Burning Rose
by NobleMETA
Summary: With all of her companions found, Ruby is now tasked with finding and defeating the Black Dragon. However; many dangers still lie on the path in front of her, and the journey will test her will. With war on the horizon, how will Ruby and her companions fare against the growing forces of darkness?-Second Act in the Rose Dragon Trilogy, sequel to Of Roses and Dragons.
1. Second Step

Weiss walked along the halls of the castle, her thoughts focused on the architecture of the place. From what she could tell it seemed fairly well lit, and the sunlight that shined in from the windows only gave the palace a more glamorous display of elegance. Despite not having much experience with the world around her before meeting Ruby and her companions, she had to admit that the look of the castle seemed pleasing to her. It was almost as if she felt like this would be the kind of place that she could call home.

While she was walking through the halls, she looked over to see a training ring outside in the courtyard. Turning to walk over towards it, she saw that both Jaune and Pyrrha were inside training against each other. From what she could tell it looked like Pyrrha was teaching him something regarding swordplay, something that Jaune clearly was having trouble fully grasping a hold of. Weiss stood out at the edge of the ring and watched as the two inside practiced move after move for a few more minutes before Pyrrha finally noticed that Weiss was watching the two of them. "Oh hey there, I didn't know you were watching us," Pyrrha stated.

"I could tell." Weiss said as she herself walked into the ring. She walked straight towards Jaune, stopping a few feet in front of him as he stood there hunched over and trying to catch his breath. "Your swings are too wild, uncontrollable and easily avoided against a faster enemy. When you wind up your swing you basically give away what you are going to do and give your opponent too much time to avoid it and plan a counter attack." She paced back and forth in front of him, thinking of other criticisms to mention. "While it does have a decent amount of power to it, if you actually happen to get a hit in of course, it takes more energy to do that than to use short controlled strikes, tiring yourself out quicker than if you were to control yourself." She noted.

Jaune didn't know how to respond to that, and even if he had, he was too out of breath to say anything. Fortunately for him, Pyrrha was willing to step in on his behalf. "While Jaune may not be the greatest fighter, he is trying his hardest to improve. He has already improved tremendously since we first met up and he can only keep going up from here. Give it some time and you'll see him come through."

Weiss turned away from Pyrrha and Jaune, sighing as she did so. "Give it time? That's all you have to say?" She said at first, leaving Pyrrha and Jaune dumbfounded. Turning back around, her face was adorned with a cold expression. "Time is the one luxury that we don't possess." She walked right towards Pyrrha slowly as she continued. "The enemies we'll be fighting won't give us the luxury to become better. Out there in the middle of the battlefield, you won't be getting a second chance, and no one will show you any mercy or fight you fairly." Pyrrha stared at her, shocked at her words. After a moment of pause, she turned to look at Jaune, who was just as shocked as Pyrrha was. "You're not ready," Weiss stated to him as she turned and walked out of the ring and back into the castle. "No one ever is," She whispered softly to herself as the memories of her past life caught up to her.

* * *

Walking back down the halls of the castle, Weiss thought of Ruby, and how she was faring. She could only imagine what the red haired huntress was going through, but everything she thought of seemed grim and bloody. It was hard for Weiss to imagine just how much the thoughts of Ruby being hurt brought pain to her hearts. The girl somehow pushed through the layers of ice that Weiss had put up to keep the pain away from her, and now she seemed to be an important fixture in Weiss' life. Yet for the first time, Weiss didn't feel pain from it; she felt acceptance, appreciation, compassion, all of the things that she had never once felt before.

Suddenly she felt someone run right through her shoulder, knocking her off balance. While she managed to stay upright, she looked to see who had run into her. The blonde wonder known as Yang had been the culprit of course. "What the hell, Yang?" Weiss cried out.

Yang stopped and turned around, quickly shouting back to Weiss before she took off again. "Ruby's back in the city!"

When Weiss heard that, she stood frozen in time. It was like hearing that someone who had moved away was finally home after years had gone by. She chased after Yang and eventually caught up to her as they neared the city gate. Upon reaching it, they noticed that a crowd of people had made their way to the front and had surrounded them. Yang pushed through the crowds easily, and Weiss did her best to stay right behind her so that she could avoid getting caught inside of the crowd.

Once they had fully pushed through, Yang and Weiss ran towards Ruby and the rest of the group that she was with. "Ruby, you ok?" Yang asked upon reaching Ruby, grinding to a halt with a slide.

"Just a little bit beat up. But we got Ren outta there, and we even found Sun," Ruby said, smiling.

"More like I found you guys," Sun offhandedly said.

"How we found each other doesn't matter, just that we're together now." Ruby said. She went to take a step forward, but her body was still hurt from the fighting earlier in the day, and she fell over.

In an instant Weiss reached out to grab hold of her, but Yang beat her to it. "Easy there, Ruby. We got you, so don't worry about it." She started to carry Ruby towards the throne room, and most of the others followed them up. Weiss however, was left staring at the gate, upset over not being able to help her friend Ruby.

'_She's really important to me if I would act this way towards her huh._' Weiss thought to herself as she shut her eyes. It hurt that she didn't even get so much as a "hello" from Ruby. '_Who are you kidding, it's just because of what happened. I'm sure she would have said something to you if she could._' She turned to walk up to the throne, but was surprised to see Blake standing there waiting for her. "What do you want?" Weiss asked, her voice filled with unnecessary venom.

Blake walked forward and up to Weiss, placed a hand on her shoulder, and then pulled the girl into a hug. "Ruby will make sure to talk to you alone when she gets the chance to. Just know that she needs to rest right now," Blake whispered into Weiss' ear. "For now, let her do her work. I'm sure that she needs to relay any information to King Port and that's more important at the moment. Just don't let that shake your faith in her that she'll come talk to you." Blake moved away from Weiss and started to walk towards the throne. "Just give her the chance to come to you, since you know that she will."

Weiss had to admit that Blake had definitely put things in perspective for her. She had just been caught up in the moment, and wasn't thinking clearly. After rethinking the moment, it made sense to her how things occurred. If anything, she just wished that Ruby could have said something to her, given her some kind of sign that things were alright between the two of them. '_Is this what love feels like? If it is, then I hope this feeling for Ruby never ends._' Weiss ran as fast as she could towards the throne room.

* * *

Ruby had to admit, Vacuo had some really well-trained doctors available. In no short time, her body was fully healed. The doctors however told her that she needed to stay in their care for the night. After a few minutes of arguing, Ruby relented under the condition that the King come to speak to her about how her assignment went, and that she get to see how the rest of her companions were faring, Nora and Ren included.

After the doctors left, Ruby and Yang were alone in the room together. Yang walked over to the bed that they rested Ruby on and ruffled the hair on her head. "Hey!" Ruby yelped when Yang messed with her hair. "That's not cool, I'm injured."

Yang couldn't help but laugh at that. "Please, I'm your sister, I can get away with anything," Yang said in between laughing fits. "I can't help it if you look so adorable. It's too good to pass up."

Ruby playfully shoved Yang out of the way, before breaking out into laughter herself. Suddenly it dawned on her that Weiss didn't follow her back to the room, recalling how Weiss looked dejected when Ruby had accidentally passed her without saying anything. The laughing stopped and she put on a more serious face instead. "Yang, can I ask you something?"

"Sure Rubes, what's up?"

Ruby took a second to figure out the best way of wording her question to Yang. "What do you think of Weiss?"

Ruby could tell that Yang and Weiss wouldn't get along, for some reason or another. Still Yang knew that Ruby was trying to show Weiss that the world was a wonderful place, and that she was a true friend to the white haired girl. "Honestly, I think that she's really harsh with people, and doesn't want anyone to know who she is. It's understandable given how she was raised and treated, but she needs to get past that." Yang said after a few moments had passed.

"Yang, it's really not that simple. What would you think if it was me in her position? She needs people to be there for her, just as much as you and I need each other. Sure she can be a bit harsh at times, but when that's all you know, do you expect her to act any differently?" Ruby reasoned. "She didn't choose to be the way she is, and she doesn't deserve any of the crap that she went through before. So promise me that you'll try to be more friendly with her?"

Yang sighed and let her head drop. She didn't want to be so open with Weiss, at least right now, but Ruby was right after all. None of this was Weiss' fault, and so there was no reason to get mad at her for all of things that had happened to her during her lifetime. So she nodded her head in agreement. "Alright. I'll give it a try at least, and it won't be an instant change, but I will try to do better, for you at least." Yang picked her head up and gave Ruby a huge toothy smile.

"I'm glad to hear it," Ruby said to Yang as the two of them hugged each other. Just at that moment Ruby noticed King Port walk in with Ren and Nora following behind him. The two young fighters looked like they had gone through a storm, but they were on their feet easily enough. That looked like a good sign. "My lord, I'm honored to see you," Ruby said, ending her hug with Yang.

"It's an honor to see that you yourself have returned safely as well. I am grateful that you have brought back young Ren to us in one piece, aside from a minor dent here and there." The King said. "Now, before I can assure you that these two warriors travel with you on your quest, there is still the issue of the White Fang encroaching on our lands."

As much as Ruby hoped that they could head out immediately, she understood that some issues needed to be addressed as soon as possible, and this was one of those issues. "Very well then, what would you have me and my companions do?" Ruby asked.

"We believe that the White Fang will attack us soon, and we would ask that you help us root out this problem. They cannot be allowed to defeat this city, or it's military. I would ask that you merely stay with us in the city until the fight is over. Once the battle is one then I can assure you that Nora and Ren will be sent with you on your quest," The King stated with his normal bombastic tone. "I hope that is fine by you."

Ruby nodded. "I will let everyone know that we are staying here for a little bit to help you out."

"Very well then. I leave you to your recovery. Whenever you are released, come see me at my throne and we shall discuss the information that Ren here has procured for us." With that the king walked out of the room with Nora and Ren following behind in company. It left Yang and Ruby all alone yet again.

"So we're staying for a bit then." Yang said. "Can't wait to see what this city has to offer." Yang seemed excited about the ordeal.

"Just don't get too excited we still got other things to take care of first ok?" Ruby stood up and walked over to the window to see Weiss walk into the building. '_Some things more so than others._' She thought to herself.

* * *

**AN: Took me long enough, but I finally got the next act in this saga out and ready to go. Took much longer than I originally thought, but it's finally here. I'm going to try and get this to run as a weekly update, but that may change with time.**

**So I'm hoping that the quality of the writing is much better, especially since I have someone to edit for me (that being one of my friends from college). I hope that you guys like how the writing is now because it can only get better from here.**

**I'm glad that you guys stuck around through the long wait for this and I hope that you guys enjoy what is to come.**

**-Noble**


	2. Dark Clouds Over the Horizon

When Weiss walked into the medical wing, she was determined to see Ruby. Walking through the halls she knew that it would be a matter of time before she found what she was looking for. Eventually she came upon the room where Ruby Rose was resting. Inside, she saw Ruby talking with her sister Yang about something, though she couldn't make out what they were saying. Weiss took a deep breath in to steel her resolve and then opened the door.

Upon hearing the door open, Ruby and Yang turned their attention to Weiss. "Hey Weiss. It's great to see you," Ruby said. "How are you doing?"

Weiss walked closer to the sisters and nodded. "I'm doing well right now, though I should be asking you this question." Weiss felt a bit nervous for some reason, the events of the night before playing clearly in her mind. Looking out the window she noticed that the sun was starting to set, and that the people would be all returning to their homes soon. It gave Weiss the peace of mind to know that she wouldn't be bothered while she was with Ruby, provided that Yang leave or behave herself.

"Couple of bumps and scratches here and there, nothing too major though," Ruby stated. "I should be good to go by tomorrow, if you're wondering."

"That's good to hear," Weiss said to Ruby. She wasn't going to say it, but she was hoping that Yang would leave and give the two of them some privacy.

"Hey Yang, can you give me and Weiss a moment alone? I think there are some things that we need to talk about," Ruby said to her sister.

Yang took a deep breath before nodding. She had to start being nice to Weiss so that Ruby could help her become a better person. "Ok, just let me know if you need anything, ok Rubes?" She walked over to Ruby and rubbed the top of her head. Ruby flailed her arms in an attempt to stop Yang, though it did nothing. "He he he, see ya sis."

Yang walked out of the room and shut the door behind her. The quiet that sat there between Ruby and Weiss felt a bit tense, and neither of the girls knew what to say to each other. After a few minutes of awkward silence and avoiding each others' gaze, Ruby finally spoke up. "So, Weiss, how are you doing?"

Weiss looked over to Ruby. She had a million thoughts run through her head, and she didn't know where to begin. "I'm fine." Weiss felt like she was saying that to herself more than she was to Ruby.

"You don't look like you're fine though," Ruby mentioned to Weiss. "You look like you have something to say."

Weiss sighed. She felt exhausted from all of these emotions that were running through her. Knowing that they wouldn't be going away any time soon, Weiss decided to say something to Ruby instead. "Do you, remember what happened last night between us?"

Ruby took a moment to think over the memories of that night. The feeling of worry that Weiss had, the moment where Weiss let her emotions get the better of her for a second, the kiss that never happened between them. "I do remember. Why do you ask?"

Weiss walked over to the window and stared out into the sunset. "It's because I'm wondering what all of that meant. What we talked about, what we did together." Weiss shut her eyes and let her head lower. "What we didn't do." Weiss mumbled out that last part, but Ruby still heard it.

"You mean when you and I almost, you know, kissed?"

Weiss' body sagged down when she heard that. "It's been on my mind all day, and it was all I could think about when I tried to sleep last night. Honestly, I don't know why that nearly happened, but something about it felt nice. When we were in that moment, I felt like everything was going to be great. I felt like I was truly on top of the world, yet I don't know why I felt that way, because all I've ever known is pain, suffering, expectations, and perfection." She turned to face Ruby, looking right into her silver eyes. "I don't know what to do about this and quite frankly, I'm afraid of what might come from this."

Ruby got out of the bed she was sitting on, and walked over to Weiss. She wrapped her arm around her shoulder and gave Weiss a smile. "If people were to ask me how I felt about you, I would tell that you're the strongest person I've ever met. Not from a physical standpoint though, that goes to my sister," Ruby said, hoping to get Weiss to laugh. When it didn't work she continued. "You want to know why you're the strongest person I've ever me?"

"I do want to know," Weiss said.

Ruby wrapped her other arm around Weiss' shoulder, and pulled the girl into a hug. "It's because you've been through so much in your life, yet here you are now standing tall despite what happened to you before. You overcame all of that and have the chance to prove to the world that you have a place. That's what I love about you, your willpower, your determination and inner strength, your stubbornness, your pride in the skills you have, your beauty, your willingness to stand in the face of adversity, I could go on and on if I wanted to."

Ruby moved so that she was looking at Weiss' eyes. Weiss had wrapped her arms around Ruby's waist and Ruby left her arms around her neck loosely. "You standing here now is proof of your inner strength. You over came so much and that shows you just what you are capable of."

Weiss slipped out of Ruby's grip and walked a few steps away. "You're wrong Ruby."

"What?" Ruby looked confused as she watched Weiss.

"I haven't overcome what had happened to me. Who knows if I ever will even," Weiss said. She felt something touch her arm and she looked down to see Ruby's hand gently placed there. "There are some things that I haven't told you or anyone else, things that could change your opinion of me. I don't let people get close to me for a reason. All of the scientists that ran tests on me, I never cared for them even though they tried to get to know me and be my friends."

"I doubt that would change my opinion of you," Ruby said.

"Don't be surprised if I don't want to talk about it though," Weiss said back. "It's better if no one know about it anyway." Weiss turned to look at Ruby. "I will admit that I do care about you in some way more than just being friends I guess."

"And I feel the same about you," Ruby said back.

Weiss felt something on her leg vibrate, an indication of what she has to live with. "Why now of all times," mumbled to herself. "I need to go Ruby. I hope you feel better." Weiss said as she walked out of the room, not giving Ruby any time to respond to her.

* * *

The next day, Ruby was let out of the hospital. She gathered her team together told them that they were going to meet with the King. Arriving at the throne room, Ruby and company walked off to the side to meet with him, as well as Ren and Nora. "Thank you for coming on such short notice," King Port said as they arrived. "We have a lot of work to do and not much time to do that in. So I will try to make this as quick as possible."

"We follow your lead my lord," Ruby said back to him as she took her place around a map that was laid out for them.

"Before we begin, you should all take the time to introduce yourselves to each other. It would be wise to learn about who you are working with," The King said.

"Well then, my name is Ruby Rose, and I am a member of the Huntsman," Ruby said to Ren and Nora. She gestured to each of her companions as she called their name. "This is Yang Xiao Long, Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc, Sun Wukong, Blake Belladonna, and Weiss Schnee. I do not wish to drag this out any longer than it needs to, so this is what we can give you for now."

"Very well then, we can always ask for more details later," Ren stated to Ruby. "I'm Lie Ren, Chief Scout for the Atlas Military, and this is Captain Nora Valkyrie."

"It's an honor to serve with you," Pyrrha said to Ren and Nora.

"And it shall be an honor to us as well Miss Nikos," The King said back to her. "Now onto the task at hand." He gestured to the map in front of them. "As you know, we recently learned of the location of a White Fang occupied Stronghold not too far from a few of the smaller settlements in Atlas. thanks to Ren, we know that this stronghold creates a grave threat to my people and needs to be defeated." The King declared.

"Taking this stronghold out doesn't look to easy though," Blake said while she was observing the map. "It looks like the stronghold is surrounded by the forest. The White Fang would definitely have set up traps to protect itself from the military, and the Grimm."

"That would certainly complicate the matter," The King said. He stroked his mustache, thinking of a plan that could work.

"What if we split up into two teams?" Ruby suggested. "We could have one team draw all of the attention towards them, so that a second team could slip in and take the stronghold down."

"Hmh, that seems like a risky decision. It would put quite a bit of pressure on the distraction group. The odds are that they would most likely take heavy losses if they were overwhelmed," King Port said.

"I'm down for it."

Ruby looked over to her sister, who spoke up. She was volunteering for the group that would be caught in the line of fire. "Yang are you sure about that?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, I mean, it's the only idea that works so far. Even if we were to sit here and think of other ideas, we don't have the time to do so," Yang said. "So this idea works, and I know what I would be best suited for."

"I'll join Yang as well. I'm not really that stealthy so it works better for me," Nora said.

"If Nora is going to work with the distraction group, then I'll work with the infiltration group," Ren said after her. "I'm better in that field, and it would be wise to put one of us in each group. We both know the lay of the land and we would help guide you to the stronghold."

"Well then it's settled," The King declared emphatically. "You shall split up into two groups and fight the White Fang forces. Ruby, I give you the choice of who you send in each group. I bid you all farewell, and good luck on your noble quest." The King then took his leave to allow Ruby the chance to plan out the rest of the teams.

It wasn't an easy choice. She knew that Blake would be best suited to go with her, but she wanted to bring at least one other person with her as well. Between Weiss, Pyrrha, Jaune and Sun, there were so many things to consider. "Blake, Pyrrha, the two of you are with me and Ren in the infiltration team. Weiss, Jaune, Sun, you three with go with Yang and Nora to help with the distraction."

"Um, Ruby, are you sure about this?" Jaune asked.

"I'm with Jaune on this one, are you sure that this is the best decision? Maybe you should let me go with Jaune and take either Weiss or Sun with you," Pyrrha said.

"As much as I would like to, you fit the category best Pyrrha. Weiss is staying with Yang because she can heal you guys if you get hurt, and she has those barriers that she can throw up if you need it. Jaune and Sun are not the stealthiest of people and that is very important to this task, which leaves only you Pyrrha," Ruby responded. "It's not the ideal situation, but it's what we have to work with."

Pyrrha let out a deep breath and nodded. "If that's what you think is best, then I'll stand by your decision," Pyrrha said.

"If this is our plan, we should gather our gear and prepare to leave," Ren cut in.

Ruby sighed. "Right. Everyone grab what you need and we'll meet back here in a half an hour," Ruby started to walk over to grab her own gear. "I just hope that this doesn't end badly."

* * *

**AN: So I'm going to say this now. Thanks to school this hasn't gone through the usual edit yet. I do plan on getting this edited when my editor has the chance to do so of course, college tends to cause our lives to be hectic after all. That being said, I'll mention when this gets edited so that you can re-read the chapter if you read it before it gets edited.**

**Anyway, I don't really have much to say about this other than I have the entire act planned out. Each individual chapter though is still in the works story wise, but the overall summary of the chapters is set. I can honestly say, I really can't wait for this story to get towards the later chapters because of it.**

**So, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	3. Similarities

After meeting up again, Ruby and company walked down towards the front gates of Vacuo. She had concerns about this plan of hers, but there wasn't much that she could do about it right now. Nora reassured her that she would be bringing a few of the soldiers under her command as extra muscle in case they needed it. It relieved Ruby to hear about that, but she still felt worried about how dangerous their task was going to be.

She looked at those who were under her command, each of them having their own unique qualities to them that allowed them to be who they were. Ruby almost felt ashamed that at some point they would all go their separate ways. She would still have her sister yes, but how often would they see each other with both of their jobs taking them to faraway places. Fortunately she knew that Yang would never do any harm to her, even if they were on opposite sides of an issue due to their jobs. Ruby took some solace in that.

The only other person whom Ruby felt she would still have around, possibly more often than Yang, was Weiss. Ruby knew that Weiss didn't have a home to go to, and no one to return to when their task was over. After what the two of them talked about the night before had Ruby considering the possibility of being together with Weiss. Looking at her, she saw just how beautiful she truly was, even if she was the only one who saw it.

Ruby put those thoughts to the side and turned back to watch her companions as they walked through the streets. At one point Sun must have noticed something because he seemed to slow down. Ruby turned to see what was going on, causing everyone else to join her. Sun suddenly started to jog in the direction of someone he must have known.

"You son of a bitch, what are you doing here?" He shouted as he ran up to the person he was talking to.

"I've been in Vacuo for a few days now, just wrapping up a trade deal with a local merchant," The man in question answered. He had spiky blue hair with a pair of goggles up at the top of his brow. He wore a red jacket over a white dress shirt and black pants.

Ruby walked over to Sun to ask him what was going on. "Who's this?" She asked him.

"Oh, Ruby, this is Neptune. He's a friend of mine from Haven. We've known each other since we were kids, so he's pretty much my closest friend. Didn't expect to see you here though," Sun responded.

"You know me, I go where I'm needed," Neptune said. He turned his attention towards Weiss all of a sudden. "Why hello there, beautiful. I've traveled all across the realms yet I have never seen anything quite as breath-taking as you. Might I ask for your name?"

Weiss didn't even bother to smile. She simply rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. "I don't have time for your worthless pandering. There are more important things that need to be taken care of."

Neptune was shocked at the idea that someone had rejected him, but quickly regained his composure. "Oh well, can't win them all. In any case Sun, I have to get going and finish this deal. Hopefully I'll see you sometime soon." Neptune offered his hand to Sun, the latter shaking it definitively. "Until we meet again," he said to the rest before he walked away.

"Man, what was with Weiss? It's like she's extra cranky right now," Sun said to no one in particular.

"Let's just keep moving. We don't have much time," Ruby said, leading everyone onward. Internally though, she was wondering the exact same thing that Sun was. '_Sun's right, that was strange, even for Weiss. I know she can get cranky and cold towards people, but that's just really pushing it._'

* * *

Soon they approached the gate, their paths now separating for a short while. A quick wish of luck to each other and both groups set off. Yang, Sun, Jaune and Nora all stayed close to each other, making small talk while they traveled. Weiss on the other hand stayed a few steps ahead them. The soldiers under Nora's command pulled in the rear. Yang watched as Weiss did her best to stay away from everyone else. As much as Yang didn't approve of how distrustful Weiss was, she understood why she was acting that way.

'_Maybe I'm being to hard on her, it's not her fault after all. I guess she's just a victim of this whole thing that happened to her._' Yang thought to herself as she walked on.

"So Yang, I kinda got something I wanna ask you," Sun asked abruptly, pulling Yang out of her thoughts.

"Yeah what is it?" Yang asked in return.

"What's the deal with Weiss? I can assume that she was that person you were looking for when we first met, but aside from that you guys didn't tell me that much about your whole mission thing," Sun said.

"I'm actually interested in knowing as well," Nora mentioned. "If we're gonna be working together, might as well get to know you guys, I guess."

"Well, Weiss is an interesting case," Yang began to say. "She's apparently the victim of an extremely cruel dust experiment that was set up by big man Schnee. As a result she is unnaturally powerful, but not only is she easily exhausted, she has major trust issues with people. Pretty much the only person she feels comfortable talking to about anything aside from work is Ruby, so don't be upset if she doesn't get too friendly with you."

"A dust experiment? That sounds pretty extreme, don't you think?" Sun asked.

"That's what we thought. We all agree that the way she was brought up is terrible, but unfortunately for her, the results of it are astonishing. I personally had my life saved thanks to her, even though she is harsh in her critiques of my combat abilities," Jaune cut in before Yang could say anything. "She told me that I wasn't ready for the fight ahead of us."

"To be fair to her Jaune, out of all of us, your combat skills are on the lower side of things. Sure she could've said so in a nicer way but you can't blame her for acting the only way she knows how. As much as I hate to admit it, we just need to accept her as is and move on from there," Yang said.

"If she doesn't learn that what she already knows isn't the way to handle things, then she isn't going to be working well with us," Nora cut in. "Like it or not she needs to change her attitude or else it's going to cause problems later on down the road."

Sun couldn't help but feel bad for Weiss. He somehow could relate to her in some aspects. Like Weiss, he had nowhere to go and very few people to rely on. He decided that maybe he should go and talk to her to see if he could help her build trust in himself and the others.

"What the heck is he doing?" Nora asked.

"Whatever it is, I hope he watches what he says to her," Yang replied.

Sun jogged up until he was next to Weiss. "Heya Weiss, how are things up here?"

Weiss let out a huff, and she didn't even bother to look at Sun while she was speaking. "What do you want exactly?"

"Well, if you're gonna be like that, then I'll just tell you that I want to know how you're doing," Sun answered.

"I was doing just fine before you decided to speak with me. Now is there anything else that you wanted to mention, exactly?" Weiss said.

Sun let out a sigh. "I wanted to apologize to you for what Neptune did earlier. I saw how you were bothered by it and I want to let you know that he didn't know anything about you at all and was just trying to be friendly."

"Doesn't matter to me what your friend does with himself. I don't feel compelled to give a damn about it anyway."

Sun shook his head. '_You brought this on yourself Sun, might as well finish it the best you can,_' He thought to himself. "You know, you and I actually have a lot in common."

Weiss finally turned to look at him after that remark. "We have nothing in common."

"Yeah we do, actually. We both have faced a difficult life growing up, neither of us have anywhere to call home, and we both have only one person that we can truly rely on when we need it," Sun said.

"As true as those are, that doesn't make us alike," Weiss responded.

"From the way I see it, you and I are alike, even if you don't want to see it."

Sun kept talking but Weiss tuned him out. She was listening to the sounds that were going on around them. She heard the leaves rustling in the trees, the chirping of birds and the crunch of twigs underneath her feet. Then she heard a faint howl in the distance, the kind of howl that you would hear from a Beowolf. Her expression changed and she became more focused on that one particular sound, waiting to see if she would hear it again. When she did, she realized where it was coming from, right in the path of Ruby's group.

"Sun, shut up for a moment." Weiss had stopped walking and was focused solely on the sounds of the Grimm.

"What gives, Weiss, all I was trying to do was-"

"Sun, if you shut up and listen for a moment you'll hear what I just heard," Weiss quietly yelled to Sun.

Before Sun could say anything he heard what Weiss did, the howl of the Beowolves off in the distance. "Oh that's not good. Do you know where they're coming from?" Sun asked.

Weiss turned to walk over to Yang. "I do, and it's right where we don't want them to be." Once she stood next to Yang she had already formulated a plan to keep them out of Ruby's way. "Yang, fire one of your rounds into the air so it acts as a flare."

"And why would I do that exactly?" Yang asked.

"Yang there is no time to explain, just do it already," Weiss responded.

Yang shook her head, activated her gauntlets and did as Weiss instructed. "I hope that wasn't a waste," She mumbled to herself.

"I hope you guys are ready, because there is going to be a large number of Grimm heading towards us now," Weiss stated to everyone.

"Why did you bring them over here Weiss? Do you want to get us killed?" Yang asked. She wasn't too happy about what Weiss was doing.

"Would you rather Ruby have to deal with them instead? Because they're right in her path and they wouldn't be able to handle them all without getting hurt. We're more than capable of handling it so that they don't have to," Weiss said.

As much as Yang didn't want to admit it, Weiss was right. Her handling of the situation was cold, but she was handling it. "Well then, let's get this over with. Whoever kills the most Grimm gets a barrel of ale on me tonight!" Yang shouted to motivate everyone.

Weiss steeled her resolve and readied her blade. She waited for the first Grimm to appear through the trees, setting Myrtenaster to load up red dust. Once she saw the first Grimm, she activated the dust and swung her blade directly at the beasts.

* * *

**AN: So the third chapter is out. I'm liking where things are going so far and it only gets better from here. You guys are awesome for sticking through Of Roses and Dragons and continuing on with this story. If anyone has any questions about the story so far just shoot me a message and I'll answer them as best as I can.**

**Thanks for reading, give this a follow a fave and a review, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**


	4. Behind the Lines

Ruby looked back at Yang and those that were traveling with her one last time. She was concerned that they would be well off but her concerns were valid as there was a lot riding on their shoulders. The fact that they were going to take the brunt of the assault that day and it had Ruby wondering if she made the right choice to send them out there. There wasn't a thing that she could do about it though, and now she had to live with what comes of it.

Their journey went quickly though, their progress going unhindered. Ruby was pleased with how things were going, so she decided to give everyone a break. Once everyone got settled Ren walked over to Ruby.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Ren asked.

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

"I'm interested in getting to know the others that we are working with. Other than yourself and Miss Belladonna here, I haven't had the chance to learn about those that we shall be working with. If you don't mind giving me some of the basic info on your companions then I feel that would be most beneficial to myself," Ren stated.

"Well that seems simple enough," Ruby said as Pyrrha and Blake walked over to her. "You already know about Blake, so why don't we start with Pyrrha over here. Pyrrha is a Captain of the Sanctum Royal Guard, first female and youngest captain in the realms history."

Pyrrha nodded. "Well, it does help having opportunities that most others don't, though I try to not let my success get to my head. Success only means that the expectations are higher for the next time."

"True, though even if something should happen, as long as you give it your best, then the people will understand that even you aren't perfect," Ren stated.

"I still feel pressured at times because of it. When people put you on a pedestal, you eventually lose touch with those that put you there in the first place," Pyrrha said. Ruby swore she saw Pyrrha look hurt when she said that about herself.

"You know that we're more than willing to look at you like a normal person, especially Jaune. I don't know if you've noticed, but he seems to really like you most of all Pyrrha," Ruby said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Pyrrha said.

Blake, who had just been listening to the conversation heard something off in the distance. She turned towards the sound and saw that there was a light shooting upwards. Not giving anyone a chance to ask her what she thought was wrong, Blake jumped up to the top of the tree line. Once she was up there, Blake looked to see that there was more movement heading towards the source of the light. Knowing just what it was, Blake jumped back down to Ruby.

"What was it Blake?" Ruby asked once Blake landed.

Blake started to walk towards their objective again, prompting everyone to continue on with her. "Yang's group must have set off a signal flare for some reason. There's something out there that's moving towards them," Blake said.

"Her group was supposed to draw the enemies attention. Maybe they realized something and had to jump into the fight," Pyrrha said.

Ren took the lead as they ran through the forest. "She's right. From what I can tell, they were doing their job and so we shouldn't worry about them. If they set it off, they would know that a fight was coming and they would prepare for it," He said.

"I guess you're right. Let's just keep moving so that they don't have to stand in the line of fire for too long," Ruby said.

They continued on their path, having managed to avoid the enemies that were drawn away from them. Eventually they came upon the ruins of an old settlement. "This place used to be overrun by Grimm," Ren said. "See these markings, the Grimm use them to mark their territory. This nest looks fresh though, almost like the creatures that were here just up and left recently."

Ruby remembered the light that they believed came from Yang. "Maybe this was why Yang telegraphed her groups presence to everything in the forest. Somehow she must have known that the Grimm were in our path," She said.

"That looks to be the case. If it were anything, I would suspect that either Sun or Weiss noticed this, maybe both of them. They would have realized this was in our path and would've taken action," Blake said.

"We should keep moving then," Ren said as he continued on. "We're getting close to the stronghold and from there we can end this job." Leading everyone on, Ren pushed further into the forest. They eventually came upon the stronghold. It wasn't that large of a hold, but it was well defended. "Be on your guard. There will be a contingent of guards here even though Yang pulled most of them towards her."

Ruby looked up and saw an open window up near the top of the structure. "Blake, toss me your weapon. Pyrrha, send me flying up there," Ruby said to her companions. Blake pulled out Gambrol Shroud and converted it into it's pistol form, handing the weapon off to Ruby while keeping the line of Ribbon with her. Once Ruby was ready, Pyrrha threw Ruby up towards the window in question with her semblance.

Ruby went soaring through the window. Upon entry, she noticed two guards standing there and shot them down. "Well so much for a quiet entrance," She said as she walked towards the window. Nodding to Blake, she made sure that she had a good grip on Gambrol Shroud and waited as Pyrrha and Ren climbed their way up to her. Some of the White Fang members decided to check out the gunshots they heard and they came up to see Pyrrha just climbing in through the window.

"Stop right there!" One of them said as they drew their weapons.

Pyrrha immediately sprung into action. She launched herself into the room, drawing Milo and Akouo from her back. Rolling under the first swing, she brought her shield up into the gut of the first guard. She spun around and swept the legs out of the other and brought her blade down into his chest. Pulling it out, the hilt of Milo came down on the back of the first guards head.

Blake had finally gotten up to the room when Pyrrha finished fighting. "Well that was easy," Blake said as Ruby returned Gambrol Shroud to her.

"This was only the first wave, it'll only get worse from here out until we finish the fight," Pyrrha said. "Keep your weapons ready at all times, we don't know when someone will pop up out of nowhere." Right as she said that, the door opened again and more White Fang guards showed up. This time Ren jumped into action, spinning in a circle like a top and slicing at the men who had just came in. "Like that."

"We need to keep moving," Ruby said, pulling out Crescent Rose and leaving it as a sniper rifle. Having her weapon as a scythe was only going to get her companions hurt. Ruby took charge and led them through the halls of the stronghold, searching for the man in charge. As they charged through, they fought off anyone in their way. The resistance thrown at them was growing stronger and stronger.

Blake realized that there were guards coming from down the hall that they currently were at and she called for everyone to stop. Climbing up to the roof, she readied her weapon and waited for the guards to appear right underneath her. Once they were, she dropped down in the middle of them and slashed at the guards that were immediately around her. Pulling the katana out of it's sheath, Blake jumped towards the guards and swiped at them one by one until they were all on the ground.

"Nice touch, figured they would have gotten the jump on us because of the fact that they're Faunus. They have the advantage of enhanced senses," Ren said.

Blake sheathed her katana and rested Gambrol Shroud on her back. "It's not an advantage when both sides have it," Blake said as a grin crossed her face. "Take that as you will."

Ren could tell exactly what Blake was saying. "Glad to hear that then."

They continued to push through the stronghold, each of them taking turns at fighting the forces in their way. Ruby knew it would be beneficial to them because it allowed her team to rest often and conserve their energy. Soon enough, they came upon where the man in charge was staying. Blake called them to a stop, silently alerting them to the presence in the room. Ruby and Blake stood along the wall next to the door, with Pyrrha and Ren on the wall next to the other side.

Pyrrha stood next to the handle, her shield out and ready for action. She kept one hand on the handle and the other readying her defense for when they charged the room. Pyrrha looked up to Ruby as she nodded, giving Pyrrha the signal to open the door and enter the room. Pyrrha took a deep breath and cleared her mind. With a swift motion, she opened the door and burst into the room.

Once she moved in, a hailstorm of gunfire came in her direction. Her shield protected her from most of the fire, but the amount of fire sent towards her did make it's mark. A few shots managed to fly past the shield and leave only her aura to protect her. One of the bullets pierced past her aura and grazed her leg, forcing the sentinel to drop to her knee when she felt the shot hit her.

Ruby, Blake and Ren came in right as Pyrrha got hit and they opened fire on the White Fang guards in the room, dropping them quickly. Blake looked around to try and find the man in charge, noticing a person run towards the window in an attempt to escape. She recognized the man immediately, taking note of the black coat and black pants the man wore. His reddish-brown hair and bull horns caused Blake to freeze up. She didn't need to see the mask the man wore to know exactly who it was that was running away.

Ruby looked over to where Blake's gaze was focused and she shot at the man who was running. He looked back before jumping out the window. Once he jumped out the window, Blake finally moved again. She ran towards the window that the man jumped from and stared down at the ground beneath it. She saw the man running into the forest away from the stronghold with the few remaining guards closing in behind him.

As Blake looked out at where the man ran off to, Ruby and Ren went over to check on Pyrrha. "How bad is it?" Ruby asked.

"Just a grazed shot, nothing major. When we get back to the Vacuo I'll have it looked at by the doctors. Till then just need to wrap it up," Pyrrha said as she took a cloth from her waist and wrapped it around her leg where the shot hit, covering her injury to prevent it from getting worse.

Ren helped her stand up and waited to see if she could walk normally. When she winced after putting pressure onto her leg, Ren helped keep her upright. After a few moments, Pyrrha finally felt able to stand up on her own. "We should take our time getting back to Vacuo so that we don't make that wound any worse than it is. You may feel fine now, but that still needs to be looked at as soon as possible.

"Does that mean we're done here?" Ruby asked Ren.

"I believe so," Ren said after a moment to think things over.

"Their leader ran off and any remaining guards here went with him," Blake said as she walked over to join the conversation. "There's no point in sticking around because they realize that this stronghold is a lost cause. The White Fang isn't reckless and they wouldn't risk the manpower to take this stronghold back."

"Very well then," Ruby said. "We'll head back to Vacuo and meet with the King to inform him of the victory. Let's get moving then."

As Ruby led Pyrrha, Blake and Ren out of the stronghold, Blake's mind was pondering what was occurring. '_Adam, just what are you up to exactly?_'

* * *

**AN: So this is another chapter that hasn't been edited, though after seeing all of the changes that were made so far on my writing, I'm starting to just include them into the story anyway. In any case, it matters not.**

**These stories (Of Roses and Dragons/Burning Rose) have been the stories that have gotten the lowest support for me so far, but honestly I don't mind because it's still an enjoyable series for me to write. I hope it get's bigger than what it is now, but I'm not going to be surprised if this is where it stays at for a while.**

**Anyway what I'm trying to get at is, to those of you who follow this story and leave reviews on what you think of it, thank you. Thank you for being awesome people that make me want to just keep on writing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Burning Rose.**


	5. Reuniting

Their journey back went quicker than Ruby hoped it would. Pyrrha's injury didn't slow them down too much and Ruby was thankful for that. Ruby felt very excited at the possibility of having a few days to rest for once. The last moment of reprieve that they had was before they set foot in Menagerie, and ever since then they've been moving constantly and rarely got a chance to rest their tired bodies. To say that Ruby was looking forward to the short break that they were bound to have on their journey back to Vale was an understatement.

As they were about to come upon the gates, they saw Yang and the group that went with her. Upon seeing them, Ruby called out to them. Seeing them turn their heads towards the sound of her voice, Ruby was glad to see that they all looked relatively unharmed. Ruby, Pyrrha, Blake and Ren walked over to them and they began to talk about what had occurred from both sides.

"You guys look well off, did you guys not run into that much trouble?" Ruby asked.

Yang shrugged. "Eh, we had to deal with some Grimm, and then a White Fang ambush immediately afterwards. Would've been worse off if Weiss here didn't keep us upright with those healing powers of hers," Yang said as she pointed over to the white haired girl in question. "Aside from her being exhausted after the fight and us having to help keep her upright on the walk back, we got out of there pretty much unharmed. A few of Nora's soldiers got hurt, but no casualties on our end."

Ruby nodded and looked over to Weiss. She could tell that Weiss was feeling exhausted because her face seemed to be a bit pink. "That sounds great," She said before turning her attention back to Yang. "We managed to clear out the stronghold, but the man in charge took off before we could bring him down. Pyrrha had a bullet graze her leg towards the end of the fight, but it didn't look to bad of a hit."

Upon hearing that, Weiss gingerly walked over. Ruby could tell from the short walk over that Weiss was still feeling exhausted. "Let me take a look at the leg Pyrrha," Weiss said as she motioned for Pyrrha to sit on a nearby boulder. Pyrrha looked to argue that point, and Ruby would have agreed with her, but Weiss wasn't going to let her fight back on the issue.

"Very well then," Pyrrha said as she sat down and removed the cloth covering the wound. It looked grim on the outside, but Weiss could tell that it wasn't as serious as it looked. "It just brushed against the upper layer of my thigh, so there doesn't look to be too much damage done."

As Weiss worked on Pyrrha's leg, Ruby and Yang continued their conversation, with Nora and Ren standing with them while they talked. "I gotta hand it to you Yang, you guys certainly did a good job of keeping everything out of our way. We didn't run into a single enemy on the way over, and we even passed through a Beowolf nest," Ruby said.

Yang looked startled by that for a second. "Wait really? You passed through a Beowolf nest and there was nothing in there?" She asked.

"Um, yeah why?"

Yang looked over to Weiss, who was working to seal Pyrrha's wound. "Weiss said she heard a group of Grimm in your path and told me to draw them towards us. I didn't believe her at first but did it anyway," Yang said. "I guess that means she was right after all huh."

Ruby threw her arm over Yang's shoulder. "Yeah, Weiss was right about that, but that doesn't matter now. What does matter is that you guys held off everything that was thrown at you and come back in one piece. Be happy about that."

"Plus I mean, it was really fun during the fight, as if it wouldn't be," Nora cut in.

Yang nodded her head and closed her eyes. "You're right, though I do need to apologize to Weiss for the way I acted about that," Yang said.

"Then just go over to her and say it. I'm sure she'll accept it if you say something," Ruby said.

Yang sighed as she shrugged Ruby's arm off of her shoulder. She walked over to Weiss just as she was finishing with Pyrrha's leg. "There' you go, leg's taken care of," Weiss said to Pyrrha. She tried to stand up but when she did, she became light headed and nearly fell over. Fortunately for her, Yang was right there to help keep her upright.

"Easy there princess, you've exerted yourself enough today," Yang said once she had a firm grip on her. Setting Weiss down on the boulder Pyrrha was just on, Yang took a deep breath as she prepared to speak her apology. "Weiss, I wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I was acting earlier. I didn't believe you when you said that there was Grimm in Ruby's path, but you were right. I will admit that I was wrong about that and that you were right after all, and for that I'm sorry."

Weiss sat there for a few moments, silently taking in the words that Yang uttered mere seconds before. "Ok, apology accepted," Weiss said.

Yang once again looked surprised. "Wait, really, that easily? I figured you would've made it harder for me to get that," She said to Weiss.

"I'm not incapable of being reasonable, thank you very much. You apologized for what you did and I forgive you for that, nothing else to it," Weiss said. "I don't see how this should be a big deal at all, or why you even apologized in the first place, though I won't question it."

"Well I guess that's about as good as it can get I guess," Yang said.

"Of course it is. Now send that Jaune fellow over here, I need to say something to him," Weiss said. Yang gestured to Jaune to come over and when he arrived Yang left the two of them alone.

"Can I help you with something, Weiss?" Jaune asked.

Weiss took a moment to clear her throat. "Jaune, I would like to apologize for some remarks that I've made towards you yesterday, regarding your skill level. I was wrong about some parts of it and I should not have reacted as harshly as I did, seeing as how my words hurt you in some way. Despite being cold at times, I realize that I was wrong, based off of what I saw today. I still stand by what I said about you having much to improve on, but I guess it is possible for you to become stronger, with time of course. In short, I wish to apologize for what I said."

Jaune stood next to Weiss and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry about Weiss. Honestly, I know that you said all that because of how you were brought up. It made you a cold perfectionist that doesn't understand what it's like outside of what you have experienced. None of us are able to comprehend what you went through, but I wouldn't tell you to change because of that. Yeah you have some things to work on, just like I do, but just like me, you are capable of learning. Like me though, you have people here who want to help, just gotta let us in to do so."

"I appreciate that then Jaune. For now though, it'll just be a few steps at a time. Don't expect anything to change right away, I still have a long way to go before I trust everyone here, even Ruby," Weiss looked over to Ruby. The Huntress looked over at her and smiled.

"Alright then, I can't wait to see that then," Jaune walked over to Pyrrha to check on her and make sure that she was ok.

Before Weiss could do anything else, Ruby walked over to her. "You gonna be ok to head out soon?"

"I should be fine, don't worry about me," Weiss said back to her.

Ruby shook her head. "Of course I'm going to worry about you, since we both care so much about each other." Ruby hugged Weiss, earning a slight blush over the already reddened face of the white haired girl.

"We should get going then if you're asking about it," Weiss said as she stood up and walked a few paces away.

Ruby got the hint that Weiss just wanted to be left alone for a little bit. "Ok then," Ruby said. She got up and walked past Weiss, whispering into her ear as she passed her. "Maybe we'll talk later then."

Weiss looked at Ruby while she continued on, informing everyone that they were about to leave again. Before she knew it, a pang of sadness struck through her heart and she felt alone.

* * *

Arriving back at the city of Vacuo, Ruby and company were greeted with a heroes welcome. Some of the citizens gathered at the gates and cheered upon their return. Ruby smiled as she walked into the city. It was moments like this where she truly enjoyed her job the most. Moments where the people she was trying to help showed just how happy and safe they felt because of her hard work. It made it all worthwhile in the end.

"What's a Faunus doing with them?"

And then there was always one person who would kill the mood somehow. Ruby looked to see who it was that was sounding angry for a moment. Somehow he realized that Sun was a Faunus and believe that he shouldn't be there. Somehow people caught on to that and the cheers started to turn into cries of anger.

"The Faunus are just going to go to the White Fang in the end."

"My village was destroyed by Faunus."

"The White Fang killed my daughter and the Faunus are no better."

Sensing a problem brewing, Ruby turned to Yang. "Give me a boost onto your shoulders," Ruby said. Yang knelt down and Ruby stood on her shoulders. "Pyrrha, can you keep me balanced?"

"Done," Pyrrha responded.

When Ruby was up above the rest of her companions she called out to everyone. "People of Vacuo, I know that you have concerns about the fact that we travel with those of Faunus heritage. I can assure you that they would never do any harm to any of you. I understand your concerns about the White Fang but these kind of remarks only escalate the violence. Most of the Faunus hate the White Fang as much as you do, so why must you spread hate?"

Everyone remained silent while Ruby spoke, taking in every word she said. After a few moments, someone in the crowd shouted again. "A Faunus saved my life once, and I can never repay him for his kind actions."

"I was given shelter from a terrible storm by a Faunus."

"My best friend is a Faunus."

The cheers started again and Ruby jumped down off of Yang. "Let's get going, we made a difference here so now we should get back to the King," Ruby said.

"Just be aware there's going to be a feast tonight," Nora said as they walked back up to the throne.

"Really a feast?" Yang asked. "Will there be ale?"

Nora laughed at the question. "Did you ever believe that there wouldn't be any? You're in Vacuo, the capital city of Atlas. When there is cause for a feast, we make sure to make it the best damn feast in all the lands."

Yang grinned and let her hands rest behind her head. "Oh yeah, this should be fun then."

* * *

**AN: So this first little part of the story is finished, and now we're going to move onto bigger things. So the gang is going to head back to Vale after a nice little celebration up in Atlas. Of course there's going to be some instances of drunk Yang because, why not.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it.**


	6. Break Time

Ruby was glad that her companions had a chance to relax. They had gone through hell taking out the White Fang near the city of Vacuo and Ruby believed that they all deserved a break. As fortune would have it, their chance at rest was met swiftly upon their return to the city. The King declared that a feast be held in honor of Ruby and her success in driving away a dangerous foe.

Which is where Ruby and her companions were at right now. Ruby looked around at the celebration, she noticed that Yang and Nora were having a drinking contest with each other, while Blake judged the match. She quickly learned in Sanctuary that Yang could hold her liquor well, but something about the contest told Ruby that Nora was giving the blonde a run for her money. She felt bad for Blake though, since the raven haired girl was the one responsible for keeping them in line during the contest. If you were to ask her though, she figured Blake wouldn't mind, at least with Yang.

Turning her attention towards other parts of the hall where everyone was, she saw that Jaune and Pyrrha looked to be hearing stories from some of the old veteran soldiers. Ruby assumed that Pyrrha mentioned her being a captain of the Sanctum Royal Guard, which probably led to the current conversation that was taking place over there. Somehow, she was surprised when it looked like Jaune was fitting in with the old soldiers as well. Ruby had to admit, Jaune certainly had come a long way since they first set out from Vale.

When she saw Sun speaking with his friend Neptune over at the bar, Ruby couldn't help but smile. She was glad that Sun had someone who was a close friend to him that he could share his experiences with. Even if she didn't know Neptune that well, she figured that he was a good guy deep down. Ruby could tell that their conversation was going well for them because of the way that they laughed and acted there was no one else around to see them like that.

She saw Weiss sitting over in a corner of the room all by herself, trying hard to avoid people. Ruby could understand what she was doing, but it still was upsetting to see her do this. She had made so many attempts at helping her learn to trust others, and it seemed as though she was nowhere near where she wished that Weiss would be at. She needed to talk to Weiss at some point that night so the girl didn't feel left out. For the time being though, she would try to enjoy the party without having to worry about others, a nice mug of ale in her hands.

Finally, she noticed Ren, who was also watching from a distance. From what she knew of him, he seemed to be very focused on what needed to be done. It was kind of a surprise to see him here, trying to interact with people, but that didn't matter though right now. Ruby decided to walk over and talk to him about some of the coming days. While the King promised that she would get the support that she needed for her quest, she wanted to talk with Ren about it and ask how he felt. When Ren noticed her coming towards him, he gave a polite smile, and turned towards her.

"You enjoying the festivities?" Ren asked.

Ruby nodded and took a swig of her ale. "Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, so all the positivity is just, intoxicating. It has a way of just making everyone else feel good about this," Ruby said back.

"Seems your friend Weiss doesn't seem to agree with that," Ren pointed out.

Ruby shook her head. "Well, Weiss is still adjusting to living with other people around that aren't trying to use her. She has some trust issues, and rightfully so. If you went through what she did, I'm sure you would feel the same way."

"I believe you on that. Still it doesn't seem to be affecting the rest of the people here," Ren looked over to Yang and Nora, who were both chugging ale at an alarming pace. "Who do you think is gonna win between those two?"

Ruby looked over to the two ladies drinking their hearts out and laughed. "We'll, tonight, I'm sure they both have a shot of winning. Tomorrow though, we win when they are feeling miserable to the point that we can poke at their misery. I'm sure there's something you would like to annoy Nora with, right?" Ruby suggested.

"Now that you mention it, she has been making me cook her pancakes all the time. I guess tomorrow would be a good day to ask if she could make something for me instead," Ren said.

Ruby laughed. "Now you're talkin'." There was one question still burning in her mind though. "There's one thing that I'm still wondering about."

"And what would that be exactly?" Ren asked.

Ruby sighed before she spoke. "How do you feel about this quest of ours? I know this is being thrust upon you very suddenly, but I want to know if you feel comfortable with this."

Ren thought about what Ruby asked for a moment before answering. "To be quite honest, I'm concerned that things could go wrong very quickly. The Black Dragon is not a force to be trifled with and we are merely human. Our bodies are weak compared to that beast and if we aren't truly ready to face it, then we are doomed."

Ruby felt the same way about it herself, but she knew that it had to be done. As a Huntsman, she knew that there would be times where she would need to risk her own life, so this quest was no different than before, aside from how dangerous it was. "I understand, it is a dangerous quest after all. If you don't feel comfortable joining, I'm sure that we can figure something out."

Ren chuckled at the notion. "Did I ever say that I wouldn't help?" Ruby looked at him, confused at what he said. "I know that this quest is going to be taxing on us all, but if you need my help for it, then I will offer it to you." He offered out his hand to Ruby, which she took without hesitation.

"I would be honored to join you in your quest Ruby, and will go forth with you as far as we have to," Ren said.

"Thank you Ren. I promise that as long as we are together, I will do all that I can to protect you and those we travel together with," Ruby responded. When their hands parted, he bowed to her and walked away to speak with the other guests.

Ruby walked around for a bit as well, not really paying much mind to anyone in particular. She saw that Yang and Nora finished their drinking contest, and that Blake and Ren were helping them stand up and get ready to leave. Sun looked to be bidding farewell to his friend Neptune, and Pyrrha looked to be talking with Jaune about something private. That left only herself and Weiss without anyone to talk to, so Ruby decided to pay the girl a visit and keep her company.

Weiss sat over in an alcove by herself, away from the rest of the party, paying no attention to the happenings around them. Ruby could see that she was working on something, but what it was, Ruby couldn't tell. When she got closer to Weiss and could see what she was doing, Ruby shook her head at the sight. There was Weiss, sitting before her, looking over a list of the supplies that they had between the group. Sighing, Ruby walked over and sat in the seat opposite of Weiss, grabbing the girls attention from her work.

"Is there anything that you need Ruby?" Weiss asked flatly.

"I'm just wondering what you're doing exactly. Normally people aren't working when they have a chance to relax for a moment," Ruby said.

Weiss turned most of her attention back to the work in front of her, though she still gave Ruby some of her attention. "We don't have the luxury of time Ruby, and since everyone else is off gallivanting like a bunch of idiots, I'm making sure that at least something gets done. So no Ruby, I won't be relaxing, and the constant attempts by everyone to get me to join this waste of time is really unwanted."

"Oh Weiss, you don't seem to understand just how important this is to us," Ruby said.

Weiss knew that she wasn't going to be able to focus on her work now, thanks to Ruby. So she put that all aside for a moment to make Ruby explain herself. "What do you mean by I don't understand, exactly?"

Ruby drank a bit of her ale. "You don't have to spend every single moment working. I know that you've spent your whole life that way, but it's not all that there is to life. You're allowed to take some time for yourself, away from what needs to be done," Ruby said to her. She turned to look out at the people in the crowds. "We have a long journey ahead of us, and there won't be many times to relax like this. Hell if you ask me, we needed a rest after what we went through recently."

Turning back towards Weiss, Ruby saw that the girl remained silent, giving her reason to continue. "There's no point in spending your life constantly moving forward, when you don't take the chance to just look around you. If you stop to see what's around you, you'd see the beauty that surrounds you," Ruby stood up and slid in next to Weiss. "Just take a chance to stop and smell the roses."

"Ruby, it's not that simple. I can't just relax when I know that so much is riding on us being successful. If we don't work hard, then we won't be ready to fight the dragon when the time comes. Do you want to go in there and not be prepared for that?" Weiss asked.

While Weiss was right, Ruby knew that there were still things that Weiss didn't understand. "Weiss, what good is it to push to where you are going non-stop, if you can't stand up when you get there?"

Weiss looked to answer that, but quickly stopped herself. She didn't have an answer to that question and Ruby knew it. Ruby knew it, because she was right. She realized just why they needed to take a break from the road ahead of them and look around. There wouldn't be a chance if they pushed themselves too hard, Ruby knew that very well. It finally dawned on Weiss, just what Ruby was saying after all, why these moments should be taken advantage of.

"I never thought of it that way," Weiss said.

"Well, that's what I'm here for. Give good advice, help you adjust to the world around you, kick butt while looking sexy," Ruby said.

"Har har, very funny Ruby," Weiss said.

Weiss turned to look out at the crowd. She saw the faces of those who were there, enjoying themselves with the company of their friends and fellow soldiers. She could start to see how everyone was happy with the way things were. As she looked at the faces, there was one person that she saw that filled Weiss with dread. There was a man talking to the King, a man that she knew oh too well. He wore a gray suit and his hair was as white as Weiss'.

"I need to go Ruby, now," Weiss said. She pushed Ruby out of the way and quickly left without another word.

* * *

**AN: So first off, sorry for the late chapter, I had quite a bit of work to do for school over the weekend, plus some other issues that I would rather not get into. I hated having to miss the deadline yesterday, but there was nothing I could do about it. Fortunately I was able to finish this and get it out today, even if it's a day late.**

**If anyone can guess who the person is at the end of the chapter, they be awesome and get a shout out next chapter (it shouldn't be that hard by the way).**

**Anyway, you guys are awesome and I wanna thank you all for being awesome. Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.**


	7. Troubled Minds

Weiss' steps echoed down the halls as she walked away from the feast that was occurring. She saw someone whom she never expected to see again, never hoped to see again. Fear started to rise in the girls mind, prompting her to walk faster. The man who stood in that grand hall had brought back some of the memories she buried deep down in the subconscious of her own mind. She needed to leave that place, she needed to escape.

In the daze that Weiss was stuck in, she didn't hear the footsteps that were coming up behind her. Before she knew it, a hand grabbed hold of her shoulder. Weiss reacted to the hand in a more violent way than she had believed she would. She grabbed the hand in question and threw the person attached to it over her shoulder. She was about to throw her fist into the person's face, her hand already raise up in the air, but then she noticed who it was that was trying to get her attention.

"Of course it would be you," Weiss sighed. When she realized that it was just Ruby, Weiss felt less threatened, and she stopped herself from hurting her.

Ruby chuckled once Weiss extended her hand to help the brunette up. "Yeah, I probably should have thought that through a bit more huh," Ruby said as she was pulled upright.

"Fine, just promise me you won't do that again," Weiss said. She rubbed her forehead with her arm, realizing there was a very thin layer of sweat coming from her body.

"I called your name like, five times, and you didn't hear me though," Ruby responded.

Weiss sighed. "I see your point, though please try to not startle me like that again. I would rather not have to throw you down onto the ground again."

Ruby nodded. "Ok then, I guess I could promise that much, I guess," She said to Weiss. Ruby then remembered why she came over to Weiss in the first place. "Is everything ok with you? You just ran off all of a sudden, hell you knocked me over and spilled my ale in the process."

Weiss suddenly felt guilty over what she did, mostly because of what happened to Ruby. "Ruby, believe me, I'm sorry about what happened. I just needed to get out of there. I don't want to talk about it anymore and would rather just be alone, ok?"

Ruby sighed, she really wanted to help Weiss out. Unfortunately it didn't seem like that would be likely tonight. "Ok," Ruby said after a few moments of hesitation. "I guess if that's what you want then." Ruby turned to walk away, back to the festivities, but stopped herself before she left, turning back to look at Weiss. "As much as I want to help, I don't want to force it on you, but I'm here if you need it, Weiss." Ruby started to walk away, leaving Weiss with a few parting words for the night. "You're not alone anymore."

The words stuck in Weiss' head as she saw Ruby round the corner and return to the party, continuing even after the brunette was out of sight. After a few minutes of thought, Weiss turned back towards her intended destination and continued along her way. She knew that there was quite a bit to think about when she got back that night.

* * *

Ruby woke up the next morning feeling a little more exhausted than normal, the nights endeavors draining her of energy. Still it didn't matter, she got up and performed her usual morning routine like nothing was wrong with her. When she finished, she decided that a nice cleaning would do her well, and so she washed herself down, refreshing her body and spirit at once.

Once she was finished, she made sure that the others were up. She suggested that they take time to get cleaned up themselves, citing that they deserved a moment to refresh their own bodies like she did. She wanted everyone to be in high spirits for the journey back, it would make it much more enjoyable that way.

Everyone took their sweet time washing themselves off, with Yang taking the longest amount of time, followed closely by Weiss. After finishing, Ruby checked to see that everyone had their belongings with them, and led them to meet with the King before they left. She wanted to ask if there was any way he could provide them with transport back to the Vale capital of Esgaroth.

Upon arriving at the throne, she noticed that King Port stood at the throne. At the base of the throne stood Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie, both of whom had a bag for their possessions with them as well. When Ren and Nora noticed Ruby walk in, they gave her a salute. Ruby walked over to them and shook both of their hands in return.

"Well, I believe it is time that you return to Vale. I trust that you will do you best to ensure Ren and Nora's safety, right?" The King asked.

"I will, your honor," Ruby said, kneeling down before the King to honor him. She stood up afterwards and held her hands behind her back. "If I may ask, would you be willing to provide us with transport back to Esgaroth? The journey back to Vale alone is a long endeavor, and the capital city is on the opposite side of the realm. It would provide a great deal of assistance if we were given transport, and I ask that you honor us with such."

"I have to look into what the schedule looks like for transport between the kingdoms, but if there is anything available then I give you access to it," The King said, writing something down on a parchment and handing it to a nearby servant. He gave the boy instructions and cast him on his way. Before he turned his attention back to the Huntress and her companions, someone walked into the hall and drew his attention away. "I do believe that you are early, though I shouldn't be surprised by this turn of events."

Everyone drew their attention to the man who had walked in moments ago, and the very sight once again struck fear in Weiss' heart. The same man who she saw last night was in front of her again, and this time, she couldn't just run away like she had before.

"You shouldn't be surprised by this Peter, I always show up early to any meeting that I plan for," The man said. He then realized that there were others in the room besides himself and the King, and he turned to address them. He barely showed any shock when he noticed Weiss standing amongst them. "And what are you people doing here at this meeting?"

"I'm here to speak with the King, if you would show patience then we will be finished soon and out of your way," Ruby said.

"Do not speak to me unless I say so you worthless filth," The man said back to Ruby. Yang was ready to knock the guy in the face, but was being held back by Blake and Sun. Weiss on the other hand, was frozen in fear, and Ruby noticed this. "I don't see why there are eight insignificant whelps standing before me."

'_Wait, eight? There's nine of us here, unless,_' Ruby thought to herself as she realized what was going on. The man was referring to Weiss as the one who isn't 'insignificant,' and Ruby could only see that as bringing trouble.

The man walked forward, pushing everyone out of the way until he was face to face with Weiss. "Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you have caused me by running off with this scum?" Ruby realized right then and there, that this person was the one who tortured Weiss all those years. "You're coming back with me this instant."

The man reached for Weiss, but was stopped when he felt a hand on his arm hold him back. "Do not touch her." The man turned to see Ruby standing there, the one who decided to hold him back.

"What do you think you're doing you cur, I am taking my daughter back with me this instant," The man said.

Ruby fell dead silent, and Weiss started to fear the worst. Before the man who turned out to be Weiss' father could move, he was being openly pushed away from Weiss this time, by Ruby, and eventually by everyone else. "I'll say it again. Do. Not. Touch. Her." Ruby said, emphasizing each word as she said it.

By now, Weiss' father turned to the King for assistance. "Peter, do something to these animals. They do not have the right to-"

Ruby decided to interrupt him before he went on. "I have more right than you think I do."

"And what in god's name gives you that delusional idea?" He asked.

Ruby smirked and looked up at him. "My name, is Ruby Rose, and I'm a member of the Huntsman."

The look on Weiss' father's face grew dead serious. "You would dare stand in my way, Huntress?"

Ruby didn't back down, in fact she became even bolder at the challenge. "That's exactly what I'm doing right now. If you attempt to take Weiss with you, then I will have no choice but to force you away from her. You have hurt her enough already and I won't let you do anything else."

"None of us will," Pyrrha said next.

"I dare you to try and take us," Yang challenged. Soon everyone was standing in between Weiss and her father. The expression on her face changed from fear to elation, she felt as though she could really trust them all after this.

"Don't try to stop me," Weiss' father said as he looked at pulling a weapon out from the cane that he carried with him.

Before he went any further, the King spoke up. "If you attempt to lay your hands on them Geist, I will cease all trade with you and the Schnee Mining Company. I ask that you back down now before it get's drastic."

Shocked, Geist turned towards the King. "You can't be serious, you would cease all trade over one group of insignificant filth, and a lowly Huntress?"

"I would, and I can assure you that Ozpin and Glynda would do the same as well. So I ask this again, please stand down," King Port said.

Fuming, Weiss' father lowered his hands and admitted defeat. "Do not think this is over, Weiss. You won't be rid of me that easily, and I can assure you that the next time this happens, no one can stop me." He then turned and walked out of the hall, leaving them all alone.

Ruby turned back towards the King, who was speaking with the servant he sent out earlier. "I admire your boldness Ruby, not many have dared to challenge Geist Schnee and lived afterwards. In any case, I just received word that there is in fact a transport to Esgaroth that is departing within the hour. I will ensure that it does not leave without you. Have a safe journey, and good luck," The King said.

Everyone bowed down to him and left after they thanked him. They had a lot of things to talk about during that train ride.

* * *

Once they reached the platform with the train, everyone was about to get onto it. Before they could though, Weiss decided to speak up. "So, about what happened earlier," She started off with. "I wanted to thank all of you, for standing up for me. I know that you guys must have a lot of questions to ask me, but right now I just want to say thank you, for everything."

Ruby walked over and pulled her into a hug. "You don't need to say anything right now. Do so when you're ready to, we'll be here waiting." Ruby looked at Weiss and saw her smile. "Come on, let's get back to Vale." Ruby led everyone onto the train, and they had a few minutes to settle in before the train sped away.

* * *

**AN: So I've been having a lot to handle lately, mostly with school work. It's why this chapter is later than it should be, and for that I apologize. I've been trying to get myself to work on this more and more, but often times it comes down to me just having to force myself to writing it because I don't have much time left. In any case I hope to fix that in the next few chapters.**

**Anyway, shoutout to Prinplup64 for being the only person to even guess at who the man was from the last chapter. You're an awesome person and I really appreciate the comments that you've said to me on all of my stuff. So thanks for that.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	8. Home Sweet Beehive

The train ride over to Esgaroth went quicker than Ruby could have anticipated. She was pleased with the results, and when she stepped off of the train, she looked upon the beauty the city had to offer. It had rained there recently, that much Ruby could tell. The rain only made the shining beauty of the city shine even brighter, emphasizing the title of City of Eternal Light.

"So good to be home," Jaune said when he stepped off of the train. This was as much Jaune's home as Ruby's, and he was certainly glad to be back himself.

Ruby looked back to Ren, Nora and Weiss. None of them had ever been to this city as far as she knew, so she was eager to hear about what they thought of the city. From first glance, she could tell that Ren and Nora were captivated by the city's glamor, though Nora showed it more than Ren did. Weiss though, it was hard to tell with her. Ruby believed that she was intrigued by the city, but that she just needed more time to take in all of it's beauty.

"Ren, Nora, Weiss, welcome to Esgaroth, the City of Eternal Light," Ruby said to the three. "What do you guys think of it?"

Nora was the first to speak up. "Oh my god this place looks incredible!" She shouted.

"I agree, the city looks beautiful so far," Ren said next. "It definitely lives up to the name."

Ruby was pleased to hear that her home looked spectacular, and she was eager to hear what Weiss had to say. "I'm glad that you like it so far. Weiss, what do you think about the city?" She asked.

Weiss took a moment to consider what she wanted to say. She liked how it looked yes, but somehow she didn't feel like it was as great as everyone else was believing it to be, at least not yet. "I haven't been around long enough to know what to think of it. Maybe, after we've spent some time here, I'll have an opinion for you," Weiss said, not really facing anyone at all the entire time.

Despite being a little bit disappointed, Ruby saw what Weiss meant when she said that. Weiss wasn't going to go off of the first impression and she felt that was a wise decision. "Fair enough," Ruby said. "Hopefully I can show you around the city after we meet with Ozpin. Speaking of which, we should start making our way there now."

Ruby led her companions through the streets of Esgaroth, taking enough time for everyone to see the sights and experience the city's beauty. Even Weiss was starting to warm up to the city and found it somewhat comforting, looking up at the top of the waterfall in particular. She felt that would be a nice place to relax if given the chance, and would need to ask Ruby to bring her up there at some point.

Not long after, they came upon the entrance to the King's Hall. After a word with the guards at the door, Ruby and her companions traversed the gateway into the throne to speak with the King. Upon their entrance, Lord Ozpin stood from his throne and greeted them. "Welcome home, Ruby, I'm pleased to see you have returned safely," He said to the Huntress. "And Jaune, I welcome you back as well."

Ruby knelt down before the King after crossing the distance between the door and the throne itself. "My lord, it's good to be home," Ruby said. After standing, Ruby gestured for Ren, Nora, and Weiss to come forward. "May I introduce to you, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie of the Atlas Military, and Weiss."

Ozpin walked down from the throne and stood before the group of young warriors before him. Taking Ren's hand, then Nora and Weiss' in order, he greeted each of them individually. "It's a pleasure to meet each of you. Tell me, how is it working with Miss Rose?"

"From what I could tell, she is always focused on the quest at hand. Despite that, she makes sure to give time to those whom she works with, that being myself and the rest of us in this case. She ensures that all of us are safe, even if it means the quest grows harder as a result. I say she is a wonderful person to work with," Ren said. Nora didn't need to say anything, instead just nodding in agreement with Ren.

"Well, that's certainly good news," Ozpin said. "And what about you Miss Schnee, how has working with Ruby gone?"

Weiss was a little shocked that Ozpin knew about who she actually was. "How did you know what my last name was? Ruby didn't mention it once, and neither did I."

Placing a hand on the girls shoulder, Ozpin gave her a comforting smile. "I have to keep trade open with the Schnee Mining Company for my kingdoms benefit. There has been one or two occasions where I had asked about how you were doing. Little did you know that before this whole thing with your experimentation began, I actually met you here in this very hall."

The revelation was sudden to Weiss, having no memory of the event in question. "So you've met me before that whole thing began?"

Nodding, Ozpin continued."It was only when you were about knee high to me, but you're beauty is still unrivaled, much like when you barely an infant," He said. "I wish that I could have done something to keep this from happening to you, but alas I was unaware of what had happened until recently. Had I not recognized you after you were rescued, I wouldn't have even known now." Removing his hand from Weiss' shoulder, he turned his attention to the entire group. "In any case, you have a job that needs doing, and and you should also take some time to rest."

At that moment, someone walked into the king's hall. The man was clearly nervous about something and looked like he wasn't going to be patient. "My Lord Ozpin, I desperately need to speak with you. My village is in peril!" The man shouted.

Before Ozpin could say anything, Ruby spoke to the man instead. "Please, calm down so that you can explain to us what is going on," She said to the man, everyone else eagerly awaiting what he had to say.

After the man took a few moments to slow his breathing down and relax, he finally spoke up. "I'm from the village of Haven, the representative to the Vale Council. Our village has been plagued by bandit attacks for weeks now and I've just learned that they have threatened to burn the village down if we don't give them everything that we have."

"Haven, oh no." Everyone turned to see Sun look fearful. "Ruby, we have to go and help him. That's my home that he is talking about."

Ozpin hummed as he weighed his options. "I believe that we may be able to help them out, and quickly too. A cargo train is set to depart past that region in the morning. If you go and hop onto the train and defend against these bandits, you can help the village. I still need time to decipher the next part of the tablet that houses the prophecy on it, so it works out for both of us."

Sun clearly approved of this plan, though he hated having to wait until the morning before they went to do anything. "Sounds like a plan," Ruby said to Ozpin. "I guess that means we need a place to stay for the night."

"You are correct. Take some time to rest up, because come tomorrow morning, you be leaving for Haven. Have a pleasant evening and enjoy all that Esgaroth has to offer, for it may end up being some time before you see the city again after today," Ozpin said as he dismissed everyone from the king's hall.

After being dismissed Ruby gestured for everyone to follow her yet again. "Come on guys, I'll show you where I live," Ruby said as she led everyone down into the city.

The walk to her home didn't take long, even when they stopped in the market to pick up some food to cook for dinner that night. Before they arrived, Ruby turned to them. "So, there isn't going to be much room since it's only for one, but I'm sure it'll be better than some of the nights we went through already," Ruby said, warning them about the lack of space. When no one seemed to complain about anything, Ruby continued to lead them towards her home.

They arrived shortly thereafter and they all clamored up into her home. When Ruby said that it was a small place, she wasn't kidding. Her home was one room with a room to wash up along the side. Her bed, kitchen, and work table took up quite a bit of the space, but Ruby reckoned there would be enough room for everyone to stay, even if it was on the floor.

"I know it's not much, but this is home for me," Ruby said. No one thought badly about it, at least they thought it was better than some of the places they slept while out in the wilderness. Given that it was for Ruby alone, it was a place of luxury to the young huntress. "So, let's get this food cooked."

* * *

Ruby and company had soon cooked up a hearty meal for the nine of them, and they all ate like kings that night. Soon afterwards, they began to converse about anything they could come up with.

Weiss at one point said that she needed to go get some air, and when Ruby decided to go with her, Weiss decided not to complain. After the two of them left the home, Yang sighed. "When are they gonna realize that they need to be together?" She said out loud.

"I'm sure they know each others feelings, but I doubt that Weiss understands what to do with her feelings," Blake cut in.

Yang leaned back against the side of the bed from her seat on the floor. "Please, I'm sure that it'll happen sooner or later. I just need to make sure Ruby get's her head out of her own ass and actually say something to Weiss."

"In any case," Pyrrha started to say. "I'm sure that they would look lovely together."

Yang laughed a bit. "I don't think anyone is denying that, Pyrrha. I just think that they're taking too long before they say anything to each other," Yang said.

"Well what about you and Blake then, Yang?" Jaune asked. His question caused the blonde to stop laughing immediately and glare at the boy. "You two clearly like each other, so why haven't you two gotten together then?"

When Yang looked at Blake, she could tell that the black haired girl really wanted to say something about it, but something kept her from doing so. Yang recognized the look in her eyes once Blake finally turned her attention towards the blonde. It was the same look that Yang gave to Blake whenever she thought about her, a look of affection, of want.

Not a moment had gone by, before Yang felt herself being pushed back by Blake. The faunus girl had pounced on top of her and was now kissing the blonde while she had her down. While Yang wasn't complaining, she was certainly surprised by the sudden expression of emotions.

"Well, you asked for it, Jaune," Pyrrha said. Upon hearing her speak, Blake and Yang jumped away from each other, causing everyone to laugh. "It's about time you two," Pyrrha said in between fits of laughter.

"Yeah, I guess it has been too long for us too," Blake said. She sat down next to Yang and let the blonde wrap her arm around her shoulders.

* * *

**AN: Well it's official, the bumblebee has begun. I hope that the wait for this has been worth it, and that I managed to get it right because I'm not the best at writing bumblebee to be quite honest.**

**In any case, I'm moving quite along into the next part of the story which as you read earlier is the bandit attacks in Haven. Our intrepid heroes should have an easy time against the bandits, but is that all they will be fighting? I know the answer, and trust me, it's certainly worth the read if you ask me.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	9. White Dust-Covered Roses

After Weiss and Ruby walked out of the brunette's home, Ruby decided to take Weiss on a trip. "Come with me, Weiss. I wanna show you something," Ruby said as she grabbed Weiss' hand and dragged her through the city. Weiss could barely contain the squeak that escaped her lips as she felt Ruby pull her away. While she didn't mind Ruby wanting to show her something, she could do without being dragged through the city like a doll. Somehow, she just couldn't bring herself to be upset with Ruby doing that to her since the girl seemed excited about something.

Weiss took the chance to look around at the sights as they passed them by. She had to admit that Ruby was right when she said that the city was beautiful. She became very engrossed in the sight so much that she didn't notice Ruby slow down and come to a stop. When she noticed that the sights weren't changing, she finally looked over to Ruby. She stood in front of the entrance to an old path that looked like it traveled up the mountain. Ruby held her hands behind her back and waited for Weiss to say something.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, w-well not exactly this but, the thing that's at the end of the path," Ruby said, stuttering her words as the flowed out of her mouth. Weiss could tell that she was nervous about something, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what it was. "I guess we should make our way up then, huh."

Weiss nodded, took Ruby's hand in her own, and started to guide Ruby up the path. "Yeah, we should start to head up," She said as they began to make their way up. The path was long, but it was fairly lit up by old torches that looked to have been place ages ago. Weiss had to admit that she was curious about how this path looked ancient, yet felt like it was constantly preserved through time, not changing from age to age.

Once they made it to the top, the path opened up to a small clearing, where the only things that stood there, was a few benches for people to rest after their journey, a bridge to cross the river, and a rail along edges of the cliff that ensured that no one fall from this clearly sacred place. Around the two of them, nature stood tall and the beauty of the place was breathtaking.

Weiss had not expected to be as captivated by what she saw, but somehow, the sight before her stole her breath away. Her jaw dropped slightly and her eyes went wide as she was marveled by what she saw. Ruby saw how her friend was amazed by the beauty and she pulled Weiss over to one of the benches so they could sit down.

After they sat down, Weiss turned and saw that they were stopped at the top of the waterfall. She gasped at the news, since she wanted to ask Ruby to bring her here at a later time. "Do you like the view, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

The white haired girl nodded her head as she looked around at the natural beauty around them. "It certainly is breathtaking," Weiss said. She finally turned to look at Ruby. "Ruby, I wanted to thank you, for bringing me up here." That got Ruby to turn her attention to Weiss, wondering why she said that. "In fact, I'm grateful that you brought me along with you on this entire journey."

Weiss stood up and walked over to the edge of the cliff, resting her hands on the railing between her and the very edge. "I know you guys have quite a few questions for me regarding my relationship with my father, but there are some things that I would rather not say, for my own sake. Though," Weiss paused for a moment. "I know that you guys deserve to know of what it is. I just need to wait till I'm ready to say it."

Weiss felt an arm wrap around her back, a hand resting along her waist. She turned to see Ruby gently holding her close, close enough that she could swear she was able to smell roses coming from the girl. Ruby was different than everyone else she met, all of the people her father had brought to test her and experiment with her against the girls will. With Ruby, she felt freedom, joy, love, all of these things that she had never once felt before. She realized that if it hadn't been for Ruby, she would never have been able to experience the beauty around her, the thrill of fighting alongside those she could count on, the care that her friends gave her when she needed it, all thanks to Ruby.

"You don't need to say anything to us about it Weiss. It doesn't matter what happened, what does matter is that you're with us and we care for you. If you would feel better keeping it to yourself, then do that, we won't let it change our opinion of you," Ruby said.

Weiss didn't realize it, but not only had Ruby wrapped her other arm around Weiss, but Weiss had subconsciously wrapped her own arms around Ruby as well. A thought suddenly popped into her mind, something she wanted to talk with Ruby about for a while. "Do you remember that first night we were in Atlas?" She saw Ruby nod before her. "How I came over to your room, and we were standing like this before."

"I remember, I remember well. You know we almost kissed that night," Ruby mentioned.

Weiss nodded, the memory came back to her fairly well, as well as the blush that appeared on her face. "I remember," Weiss whispered as she felt herself move closer to Ruby, the warmth from her breath bringing out a small gasp from Ruby. They both closed their eyes as the distance between them closed. It was like it was before, but this time, there was nothing to stop them but themselves, and neither was interested in that.

With the last speck of closeness between them crossed, their lips finally joined together. Time seemed to slow down for them, as if they were the only two people in existence. Their minds filled with ecstasy as they shared the moment together, and only when they parted did they seem to know what happened. As they stood there though, no one wanted the moment to end, even if they knew that they had other matters to go back to. For them, this was the one moment that they would always remember.

"Wow," Weiss said, breaking the silence between them.

"Yeah, wow," Ruby responded. She pulled Weiss closer and rested her head on the shoulders of the white haired girl, content to let the moment last as long as they could.

* * *

Morning came suddenly, and Ruby woke up from her bed. She looked around to see that Yang was making food for everyone, and that Weiss was surprisingly helping her with that. It was either that, or Yang was showing her how to cook in the first place, with Ruby betting it was probably the latter. She rolled over so that she was sitting on the edge of her bed, and she nearly scared herself when she saw Jaune's face right next to her feet.

Ruby thought back on the night before, how she and Weiss kissed up by the waterfall. When they finally decided to return, neither of them wanted to go, but they knew it had to happen. Weiss had asked Ruby not to say anything about it to the others just yet, because she wanted time to understand everything herself, to which Ruby was happy to oblige. Surprised to say, when they returned, they saw that Blake and Yang were embracing each other, it came as a surprise to the two of them, though they were both happy about it.

Their breakfast went well, Yang saying that with a better way of cooking everything, as well as some help from Weiss, she was able to make a meal worthy of their hunger. With full stomachs, and a new goal in mind, Ruby soon led them over to the train that would take them to Haven. She wondered why they would go there when the dragon was still somewhere out there, but Blake and Pyrrha at one point during breakfast had a good point on that. They believed that since Ozpin didn't have anything for them to go off of yet, they should be used for something instead of sitting around waiting for him to find what they were looking for.

Thus is how they came to be on the train at this point. Ruby sat with Weiss talking with her about anything that Weiss asked. Blake was off reading a book, as was Ren. Yang, Nora, Sun, Jaune and Pyrrha were all training for what lay ahead, mostly helping Jaune improve all that he could.

For Weiss, she was very grateful that Ruby was always willing to listen and answer her questions. Her father hadn't taught her much of the outside world and so she had so much to learn from Ruby. She was very eager to learn, and Ruby was glad that she could help Weiss grow as a person.

Unfortunately for Weiss, she felt something vibrate against her leg. '_No not now, why is it always at the worst time?_' Weiss thought to herself as she reached to stand up. "Ruby, I have something that I need to take care of. I should be back soon," Weiss said, reaching over to grab her bag and walk to a private area. Before she left though, she felt a hand grasp her wrist.

"Weiss, are you ok?" Ruby asked, her grip on Weiss' wrist strong, yet gentle.

Weiss sighed, she needed to tell Ruby at some point, but right now wasn't the time. "Please, I know it must be scary, but trust me when I say this. I want to tell you, but like some other things, I just can't right now. Do you understand?" Weiss asked as she looked down at Ruby.

A moment passed before Ruby lowered her arm and nodded to Weiss. "Ok, when you're ready to say it, you know where I'll be," Ruby said. She tried to sound positive, but even Weiss could tell that she felt upset by what Weiss had said.

Even if she couldn't do anything then, Weiss knew there would be a time where Ruby would be told of her condition. Walking towards the back of the train car, she took a step out the door and stood on the platform outside.

Taking a few breaths to steel herself, she reached into her bag and pulled out one of it's contents. She looked down at the small syringe, filled with a white crystalline liquid. Pulling the cap off of the syringe, she braced herself against the wall of the train, and then injected herself with the syringe. The contents traveled through her as she felt every last drop pour into her body and course throughout her veins. When the syringe was empty, she pulled it out and reached back into her bag. This time, she pulled out a container that had the same white liquid as the syringe.

Before she could though, a voice spoke up, startling her. "So this is what you've been doing the entire time."

Weiss naturally spun around and readied herself to fight whoever was talking to her. She was surprised to see that it was Blake that was standing there with her. How long she had been standing there though, worried Weiss tremendously.

"What did you see?" Weiss demanded. She gave Blake a look that said she wouldn't take no for an answer, her tone implicating this even further.

"I saw you inject whatever was in that syringe. Clearly you're going to refill it for the next time, so my only question is, what exactly is this?" Blake walked over to where Weiss had left the container, pointing to it when she questioned Weiss about it's contents. When Weiss refused to answer, Blake decided to look at the container herself, lifting it up so she could get a closer look at it. Something about it seemed eerily familiar to her, but for the life of her, she couldn't tell what it was.

"What exactly is this, Weiss?" Blake asked.

Weiss realized that Blake wasn't leaving until she got an answer, one that Weiss had to unfortunately give right then and there.

"Dust."

"What?" Blake asked.

"The contents, it's liquified dust," Weiss responded.

Blake looked at the jar again. "That can't be, there's no such thing as white dust," Blake said when she looked back at Weiss.

"You'd be surprised at what secrets stay out of the public eye," Weiss said. She grabbed the container from out of Blake's hands, and went back to the task of refilling the syringe.

Blake decided that Weiss probably knew more about it than she did, plus it seemed plausible since Weiss was experimented on dust to begin with. "Ok, so that's white liquid dust," Blake didn't even know what to think of what she said. "But that doesn't explain what you were doing injecting yourself with it."

"You say that like I chose to do so," Weiss mumbled. With her task done, she placed the cap back on the syringe and put both the syringe and the dust container back into the bag.

"You choose to not tell us this, so forgive me for being assertive when we have to find out for ourselves why you choose to do this," Blake said.

"What choice?" Weiss shouted out. She was done with trying to explain herself to someone who didn't seem to understand. Now she decided to just say the one thing she was avoiding, the harsh reality of her situation.

"Do you think I choose to do this for power, or for a sense of satisfaction? Let me ask you something, Blake. What kind of choice do you think I have, when if the only other option, is dying of a horribly painful death? Do you want me to choose that over injecting dust into my body for the rest of my life?" Weiss had truly shocked Blake with what she said, and Blake knew that it was the truth, even if she didn't want to think it was that way. "I don't have a choice, Blake, and I hope that you keep quiet about this to the others, especially Ruby. I need them to hear of this from me, not you."

Weiss went to go walk back inside, before she was stopped by Blake speaking again. "You have to tell the others, sooner rather than later."

"I already know that," Weiss responded.

"And, for the record," Blake started. "I'm sorry, about all of this. You know that everyone is willing to help you if you need it right?"

Weiss nodded. "I know, but right now, there's nothing you can do," Weiss said. "Though, I do appreciate the gesture." Weiss walked back into the train car and sat down next to Ruby, who perked up at the white haired girls presence.

"Hey, everything good now?" Ruby asked.

Weiss nodded, deep down she knew that saying something to Blake was good for her. It felt nice to let it out to someone, makes the next time much easier to deal with. "Yeah, things couldn't be better actually."

* * *

**AN: Ok, didn't anticipate the first half of this chapter being as long as it did, but there ya go. It finally happened so everyone be happy.**

**More important to the story though is the explanation for why Weiss goes off on her own at times, and this is another one of the brilliant ideas that I had with this story. I can say though, this isn't the last surprise we'll be seeing from Weiss' experimentation, and the best one is yet to come.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Burning Rose.**


	10. Awoken

They were close to arriving at Haven, something that Ruby could easily tell. The train ride was on the quieter side for the most part, something that Ruby was somewhat grateful for. It gave her a chance to talk with Weiss, something that seemed to be easier after their moment on the waterfall. Nearing their destination brought one thought to Ruby's mind, that being what the village of Haven was like.

She knew that Sun spent a long time living there, but from what she believed, he seemed to have been away for a long time. It didn't do anything to stop him from showing his concern for his home. Beside the fact that Sun knew the layout of the village the best, he was definitely pivotal in establishing a trusting relationship between the village and Ruby. She needed to ask him about all he knew on his home.

Ruby walked over to Sun, who was leaning by the door to the train car, and she leaned right next to him. "You need something, Ruby?" Sun asked when she settled in on her spot of the wall.

"What can you tell me about Haven, Sun?" Ruby asked.

Sun thought about it for a moment. "I'm guessing you wanna know just so that you're prepared for everything, right?" Ruby didn't say anything, giving Sun a nod as her response. "Ok, well, it's not that large of a village but a bit overpopulated because of where it is."

"Well, why does that matter?" Ruby questioned.

"Because we're the closest village to the Isen border. When the realm started to fall into ruin, everyone started to leave. Some people rested there for a day or two before continuing further into Vale, but there was more than a few people who decided to stick around and take up a permanent residence there. It's why Haven is overpopulated," Sun said.

"That sounds like it was hard growing up there," Ruby responded.

"Yeah, now that bandits are taking the few supplies that Haven has, everyone is going to get even less than they were before. I just hope that Ozpin sends some supplies to help most of them out," Sun said back to Ruby. He removed himself from where he was standing and started to walk over where he set his possessions. "Hey, Ruby," He said after walking a few feet away. "Thanks for listening, and for helping out my home."

Ruby nodded. "No need to thank me, I'm just glad to help," She said back to Sun, letting him continue towards his belongings. After watching him go, all Ruby could do now was wait until they arrived near Haven. So she stared out the window, looking out onto the mid day horizon.

* * *

They were due to arrive at their stop in a few minutes. Ruby was itching with anticipation, unable to sit still. Moments ago, she made sure that everyone had everything ready to go, her plan was to start off as soon as the train stopped where they needed it to. She wasn't the only one who couldn't sit still, Yang, Nora and Sun also appearing restless.

Soon enough, the train stopped and the doors opened. Ruby and company climbed on out, grabbing everything they would need for the hopefully short stop at Haven. Upon their arrival, a man whom Ruby assumed was sent by Ozpin met with them. They made sure that all of the possessions they did not need at that exact moment were in his care before they set off again. Weiss was indignant on keeping her bag with her, and when Blake decided to say that it wasn't that big of a deal that she had it, everyone seemed to let it be.

Finished with the man in charge of their things, Ruby led her company of fighters in a quick run towards Haven. She had Sun up with her so that he could guide them to the village in a quick fashion. They traveled swiftly, knowing that any longer could be disastrous for the village. Everyone was running at full speed, they knew that stopping was out of the question.

Not much later, they broke through the tree line of the forest next to Haven. Ruby could see a party of bandits massing outside the edge of the village, with a few of those believed to be some of those in charge of them walking towards the village with their weapons out. Before she could say anything to the group, Sun had already taken off into the village.

'_I should've known he would do that. Oh well, guess we're going in,_' Ruby thought to herself as she gestured for everyone to follow Sun in.

As they grew closer, Ruby heard the distinct shouting of Sun as he fought back against the bandits. The fight hadn't gotten violent yet, but the shouting was incredibly high and Ruby knew it would get worse in moments.

She also noticed that standing next to Sun, was his friend Neptune, whom they met before back in Atlas' capital. Remembering that he mentioned how Sun was a childhood friend of his, she realized why he was there as well. Ruby stopped everyone a few feet away from the group that was arguing, turning her head towards them so that she could pass on a message of sorts.

"If it gets violent, which let's be honest, it probably will, conventional attacks only. If you have to use something outside of a gunshot or a slash or stab, or whatever else you could think of, then do so sparingly. We don't want to destroy the place that we're trying to protect," Ruby said to the others. Despite stumbling a bit during her instructions, every managed to understand what she was saying to them.

In almost an instant, the bandits pulled their weapons out on Sun and Neptune, forcing the pair to act as well. While the bandits were only using simplified weapons, they severely outnumbered Ruby and those who followed her. When Sun pulled out his weapons, he fired the shotguns of his nunchaku at the bandits standing before him. Neptune's weapons was pulled out in the form of a glaive, and he ran forward and brought the weapon down into the third bandit. The last bandit attempted to run, but was soon stopped by Yang who had jumped towards him and knocked him to the ground with a single punch.

"So, what are the odds that they actually heard that?" Jaune asked everyone, hoping that the rest of the bandits that were outside the village weren't going to notice. Almost immediately, a battle horn trumpeted through the near silent air around them. Jaune let his head drop, his question was just answered for him. "Me and my big mouth."

Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose as a sniper, taking aim at the line of charging bandits. Pyrrha, Blake and Neptune joined her and opened fire on as many of them as possible. Ruby could see the bandits start to split up and make their way towards other parts of the village. "Everyone split up and do what you can to stop them from destroying the village," Ruby commanded while taking more shots with her weapon.

Nora shot off her grenade launcher, Manghild, into the crowd of bandits as they approached. They were still outside of the village enough that there wouldn't be much damage done, but as they grew closer, Nora transformed her weapon into the form of her giant hammer. Upon doing so, she leapt towards the bandits and brought it down on a group of them, then spun around and caught more of them in the swing. She cried out in a strange combination of glee and psychosis as she felt the bodies connect with her hammer.

Jaune and Pyrrha stood shoulder to shoulder as they held off any of the bandits trying to make their way into the city. It was almost as if they were in a dance together, their coordination was flawless. When Pyrrha would strike at one opponent, Jaune would move around her to block an attack and then counter it. With a swing of his sword, he cut at the chest of a bandit as Pyrrha ducked underneath it, transforming Milo into it's rifle form and firing at another bandit, before popping back up and striking again.

Yang charged forward into the line of fire, launching herself into a group of them where she would deal the most damage. As she dodged swords and threw her fists towards the bandits, her enemies didn't see Blake and Ren firing on them from the roofs of a few homes, bringing them down without them realizing it. Between having to defend against the frontal barrage from Yang, and the hidden strikes from her comrades, the bandits went down quickly.

As the bandits realized they weren't going to last much longer, they decided to leave the Huntress and her comrades a parting gift. They lit sticks of dynamite and threw them into the streets, and the tossed several bottles of ale with burning rags poking out of them towards the houses. Fortunately for the village, Weiss quickly acted, using her dust to freeze the air around the fire so that it melted into water that doused the flames. As for the dynamite, Weiss placed a glyph under each stick that was thrown and propelled them into the air, where they exploded safe from harm.

Realizing that they weren't in a position to do any more, the bandits quickly fled from the village, most of their number left dead where they fell. Ruby stopped firing when she saw the bandits running for the hills. Hearing the cries of her comrades as they felt proud of themselves for the victory on their part, Ruby couldn't help but smile and shout out her own excitement as well.

Her own excitement soon turned to dread and fear as she heard an eerily familiar roar, one that she hadn't heard in ten years.

It was clear that the others heard it as well, for the cries of victory had stopped and everyone seemed to wonder what was going on. Nora ran over to Ren and looked at him, hoping he would have answers. Jaune stood there frozen, letting his shield fall to the ground. Pyrrha looked around as she tried to find where the cry came from. Blake and Yang looked over to each other, almost sensing what was coming. Sun and Neptune, after stopping for a moment, jumped into action, leading the people of Haven to what they hoped would be safety.

Weiss, who stood closest to Ruby, saw the look in the Huntresses eyes. What she saw made Weiss start to shake. She saw fear in Ruby's eyes, the kind of fear that made the strongest of men men beg for their lives. Weiss could tell that Ruby knew what was coming, and it was the first time that she saw Ruby look terrified of anything before in the time that she knew her.

She was almost afraid to look up into the sky.

It wasn't much longer before the beast that originated the horrifying roar landed in front of them. It's hide was made of iron hard scales, the black wings blocking out the sunlight. Fire was cast from the beasts mouth into the sky, a signal of the destruction that was to come.

The Black Dragon, had found them first.

Everyone sprung into action, doing their best to lead the people out of the village. All except for two, Weiss and Ruby, both of whom were struck with fear. Ruby feared the beast that had haunted her dreams for years, while Weiss was afraid of how it affected Ruby, the woman whom she shared a kiss with the night before, the woman whom she trusted more than anyone else. Weiss felt her mind start to crack, she dropped to her knees as she watched Ruby stand there, helpless and statuesque because of her fear. Her emotions started to overcome her, creating a typhoon of doubt, fear, anger, sadness, affection, that crashed into her all at once.

'_No, no no no this can't be happening. If Ruby is afraid then, then god dammit this beast is going to kill us all, going to kill Ruby! No I can't let that happen, not after what we shared together, no, I can't, I can't let that, I can't, I can't,_' Weiss thought to herself. Soon, her mind just shut down completely, everything around her growing blank.

* * *

Ruby stared right at the dragon, her silver eyes wide and filled with terror. She had only felt fear like this once before, as a little girl who was too young to understand what was going on. Yet she still carried the same fear that she did when she experienced the event before. Her body began to grow warm, as if she was surrounded by fire, the shouts of those who were burned alive in her home's destruction echoed in her head.

The dragon turned it's attention towards the young huntress, it's eyes fixed on the girls destruction. Ruby could do nothing to stop it, her own body paralyzed at the sight. She felt as if it were the end, and she was finally able to close her eyes, almost as if she was just accepting death.

The pain never came, a blood curdling scream, different to that of the dragon, taking it's place.

* * *

**AN: Yep, I left it on a cliffhanger. I know, I'm a terrible person because of cliffhangers, but it's honestly the best way to end this chapter. You guys are certainly awesome and would easily see why it had to be done, because there's no other way to do it.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter of Burning Rose and I hope you enjoyed what you read.**


	11. Underneath the Surface

It was the second strange cry that broke Ruby's paralysis. She had no idea where the sound came from or what could have brought it about. From what she saw, it had grabbed the dragon's attention as well, because the monster was now looking of elsewhere. Out of instinct, she turned towards where the dragon was facing so that she could see what had attracted its gaze.

What she saw disturbed her more than the sight of the dragon.

There in front of her, knelt Weiss, only she appeared much different than she did minutes ago. Her body was shaking, and Ruby saw light blue markings all across her body, her arms and face the most noticeable of them all. From Weiss' eyes she saw a pure white glow, overpowering any form of color that was already in place there. The very air and ground around Weiss grew colder, so cold that they slowly started to freeze before Ruby's eyes.

She didn't know what freaked her out more, the presence of the dragon, or what was happening with Weiss.

The dragon started to move towards where Weiss knelt, seemingly intent on destroying her. Ruby was about to run over to Weiss, if she didn't see Weiss stand up and screech. It was worse than the first cry, forcing Ruby to clasp at her ears because of how loud it was. She looked around to see pillars of ice forming all around them, popping out of the ground and tearing through the homes.

The dragon responded by shooting out a column of fire towards Weiss, who blocked it with a wall of ice. From the wall, spikes started to shoot out towards the dragon, only to be stopped by the dragon's fire. As the steam from the two attacks mixing started to fill the sky, Weiss charged forward, drawing a gasp from Ruby. She didn't realize that Weiss seemed much faster than normal, something she finally picked up on when she saw Weiss easily dodge out of the way of the dragon's attacks.

Ruby hated to sit around and watch, but getting involved now would only bring about her death. She could do nothing to help at the moment except wait for it to end. Turning towards the village, she noticed that many of the houses that were nearby the fight were in almost complete ruin, either burned down, impaled with ice, or frozen over. It was exactly what Ruby had hoped to avoid, but even she couldn't foresee this happening, no one could.

She watched as Weiss fought tooth and nail against the dragon, swinging a fist towards it that seemed to extend with ice. The blow knocked the dragon back, causing it to lose balance and fall onto it's side. Though it didn't stop the creature, it gave Weiss the chance to do some damage. She brought huge spears of ice crashing down from the sky towards the dragon. If it wasn't for quick reflexes, the dragon would have been seriously injured. Alas the dragon brought fire towards the object of attack and stopped it from doing much damage.

A small chunk of ice though managed to slip through and pierce through one of the dragon's legs, just by a little bit. Crying out in fury, the dragon unleashed a firestorm on Weiss, forcing her to defend herself. Even Ruby had to turn away from the attack, fearing that the flames would ride over to her. Once the attack was over, Ruby noticed that the dragon was flying away. She felt relief wash over her as she was glad that the beast was leaving.

Unfortunately for her, the danger hadn't passed yet. Weiss was still in a state of distress, something that Ruby didn't know how to fix. What concerned Ruby the most, was that Weiss started to surround herself with pillars of ice. The danger had passed, yet Ruby wondered why Weiss would be doing that. She believed that Weiss would go back to normal after the fight, but it was clear that she wasn't going to be doing so any time soon. Ruby knew she had to do something, but at that moment, she didn't know what to do.

Ruby turned to see that some of the people had stopped running and were returning to look upon the aftermath of the clash that had happened moments ago. They started to peer into the burned out homes, press their hands against the pillars of ice sticking out of the buildings. Many of them had lost their homes and now had nothing left.

Things were bad, and it looked like the people were ready to throw blame on someone. Fortunately for Ruby, the people were held back by Sun and Neptune, giving her the time to try and fix the problem that was presented with Weiss being the way she was. Something about the whole thing didn't seem right, Ruby didn't even know what was going on with Weiss.

She looked over to see the self imposed cage that Weiss created for herself. It was clear that something inside of Weiss was acting in a way that made her act like this, she just needed to break through to her and get the real Weiss out into reality. Thinking of how she was going to go about that, Ruby figured that simply calming Weiss down would be enough to break this spell that had suddenly fallen over her.

Ruby started to slowly approach the icy prison surrounding Weiss. "Weiss? Is everything ok?" She asked softly, hoping it would help break through to the poor woman in distress.

Instead of a normal answer, Ruby was greeted with a thin spike of ice popping up merely a foot in front of her. The sudden pillar startled Ruby, forcing her to jump back a few feet to avoid getting seriously injured. She was surprised that Weiss was acting like this, but at the same time, something about it all just pushed her to help Weiss overcome it, and return to normal.

Ruby continued onward, this time more alert in case another ice spike popped up out of the ground. "Weiss, listen to me," Ruby said softly as she walked over. "I know you don't want to do this, and I know this may be beyond your control right now, but I want to help you. You need to let me in." Ruby made her way closer and closer to the ice structure that surrounded Weiss' current form.

Despite all of the ice spikes that popped up in her path, Ruby managed to stay true to her course and was soon in front of Weiss' prison. She placed a hand on the ice, jerking her hand back as soon as she had made contact with it. The ice was colder than anything she had ever felt before. She looked down at her hand and noticed that the parts that touched the ice were reddened, a very fine layer of frost having formed on her skin.

Ruby shrugged off the cold as best she could, leaning as closely as her body would allow her to the icy prison around Weiss. "Weiss, can you hear me in there?" Ruby asked, knowing fully well that she wouldn't get an answer.

Inside the structure, Weiss fidgeted uncontrollably. Her conscious mind was not her own at the moment, and the near infinite power coursing through her body seemed to have control over her. Deep down, Weiss felt every bit of what was going on, every sound that was made, every cry of fear that the people made. It tormented her, knowing that she caused so much damage.

"Weiss, can you hear me in there?"

The message was barely heard, but Weiss, the true Weiss, managed to hear it. She turned her head towards the direction of the sound, looking through the ice to see Ruby kneeling next to her prison, concern all over her face. Weiss wanted to call out to Ruby, to control herself and return back to what she had before she became this thing, this monster. Unfortunately, she felt herself become overpowered by the dust that coursed through her body, the results of years of torture and experimentation at the hands of her own father destroying any chance of returning to normal anytime soon.

Still, Weiss managed to hear what Ruby had to say to her. "Weiss, I don't know what's going on in there, but I know that whatever it is, you can overcome it and return to who you really are."

Weiss saw Ruby place her hand on the ice, the grimace of pain that shot through Ruby's body at the harsh contact. It destroyed her to see Ruby put herself through pain just for Weiss' sake. She wanted nothing more than to be rid of this accursed form and hold Ruby tightly in her arms, to take away the pain that she felt. Weiss' mind went into a frenzy to undo the damage that was done to herself.

"I don't care if I get hurt while doing this, all that matters to me is that you're back to the Weiss that I know. Weiss, please come back to me," Ruby said.

When she heard that, Weiss felt herself growing stronger, overpowering the dust that was inside of her. She knew deep down that she could control the beast inside of her, make it obey her command and submit to it's will. She started to fight off the dust, allowing her mind to regain control of her body. The pure white light burning through her eyes started to dim, the markings over her body disappearing as well.

The first thing Ruby noticed after she spoke, was that the ice she touched was no longer cold, and that the pain that shot through her hand no longer hurt. Looking down at her own hand, it looked as if nothing was ever wrong with it to begin with. The ice started to melt and disappear away into nothing. Ruby knew instantly that whatever she was doing was working.

"Keep fighting it Weiss, whatever this thing is. I know you can beat it, no matter how hard it may seem. Just keep fighting," Ruby said to Weiss, endeavoring her to succeed.

In Weiss' mind, Ruby's words of encouragement were all that she needed to grow more powerful than the dust that ran through her veins. She finally pushed back it back down and regained control of her own body. With a final cry, the ice around her shattered and rained down onto the ground that surrounded her and Ruby. Weiss felt exhaustion set in, the task of banishing the Dust from controlling her mind draining her of energy.

She started to tip over to the side, only to feel herself be caught in someone's arms. She barely had the energy to look up and see who it was that had a grasp on her. It didn't surprise her when she saw that it was Ruby who had been the one to catch her when she fell. Her clothes were tattered and there were many tears in them that would need to be fixed.

"Ruby, I," Weiss began to say. Before she could go on, Ruby held up a finger to Weiss' lips.

"Don't worry Weiss, you don't need to explain anything to me," Ruby said back.

Weiss shook her head, rejecting Ruby's suggestion. "No, I do need to say this. I'm sorry Ruby, I'm sorry that I caused you so much pain, I'm sorry that I destroyed part of what we were supposed to protect. Most importantly though, I'm sorry that I hid this from you the entire time."

Ruby nodded, she didn't need to hear anything else. In her mind she had already forgiven Weiss for what happened. "It's ok Weiss, you don't need to explain anything more. It doesn't change who you are to me." Ruby hugged Weiss close to her chest. She wanted nothing more than to take Weiss someplace where she would be safe. With Weiss quietly resting in her arms, she felt a strong sense of duty to protect her.

Before she could, she noticed that Sun and Neptune had walked over to her. They saw Weiss wrapped in her arms and silently wondered what had happened. Before they could ask however, Ruby spoke up first. "Neptune, is there any place where we can stay until the village is repaired. I know we couldn't stop the village from becoming damaged, but at least we can help repair the damage."

Neptune sighed, he knew that there was going to be problems, but given what had happened and how complex it was, he had a tough choice to make. "If you want, you can rest at my home. Just be aware that the villagers might not be so kind to Weiss because of her part in the destruction. I'll do what I can to calm the villagers down, but I'm sure they'll be furious at her over what she did, and there's only so much I can do," Neptune said.

Ruby lifted Weiss into her arms, the white-haired girls head resting in her chest. "That's all that I'm asking for, thank you," Ruby said as she followed Neptune to his home, the sleeping form of Weiss in her arms. '_Nothing's going to harm you, Weiss, I promise._'

* * *

**AN: So big moment just occurred in the story. I do gotta say, this concept is one of the ideas that helped me get this whole entire trilogy started, and so I'm glad that I finally get to do this moment. **

**If you guys haven't noticed I really haven't been able to write as good for ships like Bumblebee or those aside from White Rose. I'm obviously working more towards that, and I have a few brilliant ideas coming, but for now, I stick with what I know best.**

**Next, go check out the story Inseparable Souls by TheBrokenBottle, who is a good friend of mine. She has a great story that is a thousand times better than this so go check it out.**

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	12. Conductivity

Ruby could sense the uneasy feeling that hovered over the village. It was a feeling of sorrow, frustration, anger, and most importantly, desperation. She knew that the people were upset over the destruction of part of their village, the lost homes of an already overpopulated area, the lives lost during the utter chaos. The people were looking for an object to take out their frustrations on, and it just so happened that that the object of their frustrations was currently resting in one of the homes.

They wanted to take Weiss' head to satisfy their fury, and Ruby knew that the possibility of them doing something to her was likely.

In fact, most of her companions could feel these same emotions coming from the villagers. They felt the tension rise whenever they walked passed them, mostly the villagers just giving them a cold stare. Only Sun was free of this because of his connection to the villagers, this place being home to him for a long time. Neptune was probably their only friend out here, and they were fortunate that he was willing to actually help them.

Ruby sat by Weiss' side as the white haired girl rested on the bed in Neptune's home. Everyone else was out there working to repair the damage to the village, but there was only so much that they could do. Ruby watched Weiss as she rested, looking peaceful as she slept and gathered her strength back. While Ruby knew Weiss was fine, she had been asleep for the past day and a half. Ruby knew that it must have taken a lot of energy to do what she did back there.

It reminded Ruby of what exactly she saw during that fight with the dragon. She wasn't afraid to admit that she lost her cool during the moment, it was impossible to deny that fact. What startled her more wasn't the dragon, but it was what her friend did that left questions in her mind. She wanted to know what exactly that was that she had done, how she had unleashed all that energy at that particular moment.

She had a feeling it was all connected to the experiments that she had performed on her, but Ruby didn't want to assume that it was all because of that. It would be able to explain it, but something like this needed to be spoken of by Weiss herself, without any assumptions being passed by Ruby.

Before she could ponder any further, she heard a loud bang on the door, the rumblings of a crowd standing right behind the gateway to Neptune's home. Ruby walked over to see what all the commotion was about, and when she saw the look of an angry mob on the other side, she mentally prepared for the worst case scenario.

"Is there anything that I may help you with?" Ruby asked what appeared to be the leader of said mob.

"Where is that monster hiding?" Someone from within the crowd shouted.

"That 'monster' has a name, and you should be respectful and use her name since she's a person like you and me," Ruby responded. She knew it wasn't going to end well, so she decided to simply try to alleviate as much of the problem as she could.

"That thing destroyed part of our village!" Someone else shouted. "Stand out of our way so we can take back what she stole from us."

Ruby reached back for Crescent Rose and prepared herself for a fight, should it arise. "I can't let you bring harm to her," Ruby said. She saw that the crowd started to grow agitated with her. "I know you're frustrated, but if we weren't there to fight off the bandits and the dragon, you would have nothing left of your village. Instead, most of your homes are intact, and we're helping you repair what damage has been done."

"Monsters like that thing don't deserve to walk this world. We're going to wipe it off the face of this world so that it may be a better place, free of this monstrosity that you're trying to protect," The man who appeared to be in charge of the riots said. "Now step out of our way or join her, the choice is yours."

"I will do no such thing, and I advice that you quell your anger, lest you bring the ire of my fellow Huntsman to your homes," Ruby threatened. She could always use her position as a Huntsman as a trump card when she needed to. The look that passed over the villagers seemed to change to increased tension, no one wanted to challenge the huntress that stood before them. "Now please, return to your homes and continue on with your lives before anyone else gets hurt."

"We won't go anywhere, without taking that beast off of this world," The man in charge said. There appeared to be less that were siding with him, but enough to still cause a great deal of trouble.

"Then come and get me."

Ruby turned to see Weiss standing behind her, walking through the doorway and out to face the crowd. What she was doing out of bed all of a sudden, Ruby didn't know. Weiss walked towards the crowd, only to be stopped by the tip of a blade appearing a mere hairs length away from her throat.

"Do you have any idea what kind of damage you have done you infernal beast?" The man in charge said to Weiss, his blade the one pointed at her throat. "You have destroyed a part of our village, all because you are nothing more than a demonic monster. We will not stand by while you go about destroying more of our homes, not while we still draw breath."

Ruby knew that the situation was coming close to a head, but when she saw Weiss stand her ground despite the odds thrown at her, she could only watch and wait. "If it wasn't for me, you would have nothing. The dragon wouldn't have stopped at that small part, he would have continued until you were all nothing but bone and ash," Weiss said. "Yet you call me a monster because of the way I defended each and every single one of you. You would all be dead if we hadn't stepped in to help you. So why don't you all-"

Weiss couldn't finish her sentence when she felt a stone that hit her in the face. Someone from the crowd must have gotten a lucky throw while Weiss wasn't paying attention. Before anyone could say anything, Weiss turned out towards the crowd, a deathly silence hanging over the air. She saw Blake appear out of nowhere behind the person who possibly could have thrown the stone, though Blake probably had a better look than Weiss did. The white haired girl suddenly wanted to fight the men and women who stood there, but something inside of her told her instead to just walk away from all of this.

With her pride bruised, Weiss turned away from the crowd and walked towards the edge of the city. She soon had to run, as many of the people who wanted to harm her decided to make chase and come after her. She wasn't afraid of what they would do to her, she could handle a few bumps and bruises from these people if the worst came to pass. What she was afraid of, was herself, and what she could do to the others.

Passing by a few of her companions, she didn't stop when they called out her name. Fortunately for her, Sun and Neptune stood in the way of the protesters, weapons out and ready to fight. The people were surprised by this and called them out on their actions. Ruby went right by them, jumping over rooftops in the hopes that she could catch up to Weiss.

Not a moment later, Ruby noticed that Yang was waving her over. She dropped down to her, hoping to ask her sister to help search for Weiss. The white haired girl ended up disappearing quickly, and Ruby couldn't find her.

"Ruby, I just saw Weiss running towards the forest," Yang said as soon as Ruby reached her. At least Ruby knew that Yang would be willing to help easily enough. "What the hell is going on?"

Ruby put her arm on Yang's shoulder. "There's no time to explain, we need to chase after Weiss," Ruby said, a bit of desperation etched into her tone. "Which way did you see her run?" When Yang pointed in the direction she saw Weiss run, Ruby immediately took off and ran as hard as she could towards that place. Ruby didn't need to turn back to know that Yang was following her close by.

Soon, they saw Weiss, leaning up against a tree with her arms clutching her sides. Ruby and Yang slowed down and stood a few yards away from Weiss. "Um, Weiss?" Ruby said to catch Weiss' attention and let her know that they were there. "You ok?"

Weiss just shook her head at Ruby, tears in her eyes. She felt ashamed of herself for what she was, the exact thing that the villagers had called her, a monster. "Why did you come for me Ruby?"

"Because," Ruby said as she walked over to Weiss. "We are your friends and want to make sure that you're ok." Ruby reached out to hug Weiss from behind. The touch surprised Weiss, Ruby's head resting on Weiss' shoulder. Somehow, Weiss felt much better in Ruby's embrace.

"Ruby, there's something that I need to tell you, all of you," Weiss said softly.

"I'll let everyone know to meet up. Do you want to stay out here and do it?" Ruby asked.

Weiss nodded, letting Ruby know where to send everyone. Before she sent out the message, Weiss cut in. "Can you ask Blake to grab my bag for me, she should know why." When Ruby nodded, Weiss felt relaxed knowing that at least someone who already knew of part of her secret would be bringing what she needed to bring with her.

* * *

**I suggest listening to the part in 'Burning the Candle' off the RWBY Vol. 2 Soundtrack where Yang is explaining her past to Blake for this part.**

* * *

It didn't take long for everyone to arrive, even Neptune showed up. Weiss didn't complain, he had as much right to hear about this since he saw her own destruction first hand. Blake handed her the bag and she then went to begin.

Only she suddenly felt scared, worried that they would react badly to her. She was seated against a tree, everyone else sitting around her waiting for her to speak. Ruby could tell how scared she was, and she walked over to her and held her shoulder. "It's ok Weiss, we're not going to think any differently of you," Ruby reassured. "Now, why don't you tell us what you need to say?" Ruby made sure that she was sincere in her compassion, hoping that Weiss wouldn't react badly to what she said.

Weiss took a deep breath and nodded her head, silently letting Ruby know that she was good to speak. "So, most of you guys know this by now, but for those of you who don't, I was forced into a brutal dust experiment for most of my life. What you guys saw back there, was just a few of the results that came from the experiment." Weiss looked out to see everyone waiting patiently, listening to what she had to say.

"When I was three years old, my father, the head of the Schnee Mining Company, took me to where Ruby had found me for the first time. He was the first to physically inject liquid dust into my body," Weiss recalled every moment of the events in her mind, the screams and cries for help she made that fell on deaf ears. "For some reason, my body allowed for me to channel much dust like an electrical current passing through metal. I became a living conductor of dust."

"I spent every day for years under experimentation of some sort, whether it be how much dust I could pass through me, or what some of the results of the experiment would do on my own personal abilities. I became the first living dust human, but it came with a price." Weiss finally reached into the bag and pulled out the syringe and the container of liquid White Dust. "Every few days, I have to inject this into my body, or else the dust will start to eat away at my aura, and I'll die."

The result, was a wave of shocked gasps and 'oh noes' that were uttered by everyone there. "How many of you actually know what this is though?" Weiss asked. When no one seemed to know, aside from Blake, whom she had told already, Weiss didn't seem surprised. "This," Weiss said as she held the container, "is liquified, White Dust."

Silence fell over everyone as they were once again shocked at what they heard. Finally, Ren broke the silence. "I thought White dust was just a myth, to see it in person..." His sentence faded into nothing as the thoughts drowned out anything that he could think to say.

"Well, when this was first discovered, it was kept hidden by the Schnee Mining Company for reasons of power. Unfortunately, four years after we had discovered White Dust, we opened up a cavern that was where the Black Dragon rested," Weiss said. Jaune suddenly remembered what he had found in the SMC stronghold when they rescued Weiss.

"Me and Pyrrha found a report on that in your father's office. We were shocked at first, but hearing it from you," Jaune said, "I wish that we could have stopped it from happening now. Maybe you wouldn't have had to go through all that torture."

"It doesn't matter, that was over a decade ago, no point in trying to change what you couldn't do," Weiss said. "However, I need to tell you about one last thing. What you saw back there, was one of the more advanced uses of my new abilities. I can basically enhance all the power of my glyphs and the dust that I channel through me at a rate that is ten times stronger than what it was before."

"Wow, that seems really useful actually," Pyrrha mentioned.

Weiss nodded. "The only problem, is that I don't have any control over it at this point. What you guys saw back there was me losing control over my emotions, and that power inside of me coming out subconsciously, leaving me in no control over my own actions."

"So, until you have control over it, then it's useless to you," Yang said. "The way I see it, you gotta work on your control then."

"No," Weiss said. When she saw the confused look of Yang she went on. "I won't risk doing any more damage to anyone. If any of you guys were hurt because of me, I don't know how I would live with myself because of it. So, I won't do any more fighting unless it's absolutely necessary."

Yang looked to speak up, but Ruby cut her off. "If you don't feel comfortable with yourself Weiss, don't worry about it. We won't push you into doing anything you don't feel comfortable with if we can avoid it," Ruby said. "Just remember that we're willing to help you grow if you need to do so." Ruby wrapped Weiss in a hug, allowing the white haired girl to feel comfortable with herself.

"Thank you Ruby," Weiss responded. With everyone of her friends there, all of them keeping the same opinion of her as they had before, Weiss finally felt as if she could trust each and every one of them with her life.

* * *

**AN: Want to start off by saying that I'm super sorry for making you guys wait as long as you did for this chapter. I had too much work with school and needed to focus on that over writing. Fortunately, that's over and done with and I'll have much more time to work on this stuff. So expect many more updates in the coming few weeks.**

**So I felt as though I needed to go into a full explanation for Weiss' abilities. If I were to make a comparison, I would say it's almost like the Warlock subclass 'Sunslinger' from Destiny (of which I've been playing a lot of recently). For those of you who know what that does, it's super ability is called radiance, which enhances the power and recharge time of your abilities so that they could be used more often and more efficiently. So that's the gist of Weiss' powers.**

**Anyway, you guys should check out some of my other fics, because I'll be working on pretty much everything that I can while I'm on break. Thanks for reading this chapter of Burning Rose, and I hope you enjoyed it.  
**


	13. Fateful Return

Ruby and her company of friends had done it, they repaired the damage to Haven and were ready to move out again on their journey. Despite prior complaints against Weiss and her abilities, the people of Haven were eventually grateful that she saved their homes from total destruction. Having her help out the people also gave them a huge reason to accept what she was, despite their earlier hesitance to do so. After all was said and done, Ruby was happy with how things turned out and looked to making way back to Esgaroth with haste.

Before doing that however, Ruby knew that she needed to speak to Lord Ozpin and inform him about how the events of the fight turned out. Gathering everyone at Neptune's home, Ruby opened up her scroll to get into contact with the man. They all waited for the man to arrive, chatting amongst themselves as the seconds ticked by.

"So, how are we going to explain all of this?" Sun asked.

"All of what exactly?" Yang asked.

"You know, the fact that the dragon showed up and Weiss went supernova to stop it, which was really impressive by the way," Sun responded.

"I've already set up a report to send to him once he answers," Ruby said as she also waited. "I asked Weiss to help me write it up so that she could say what she felt comfortable with saying."

"And for that, I thank you," Weiss said to Ruby. "You don't know how much I appreciate that you did that."

"Well I'm glad that you approve," Ruby said. Not even a moment later, Ruby noticed that the call had been answered. "My Lord Ozpin, I bring news from Haven."

"Ah, well then tell me, what is the state of the village?" Ozpin asked. Ruby didn't respond with words, electing to send the file over to Ozpin instead so he could read it for himself. "A detailed report of what happened, very unlike you Ruby. And it's encrypted too, must be some very sensitive data here."

"In a way that is true," Ruby said. "I'm sure you would be able to look at the full details later, but for the most part everything you need to know is there."

Ozpin nodded as he looked through the report. When he paused with his cup of coffee almost to his mouth, Ruby knew what he had just read in the report. "You had an encounter with the Black Dragon?"

"It has made it's return, much like the prophecy said it would," Ruby responded. "We should inform Queen Glynda and King Port of this news."

"I shall do that, although I may leave some of the information regarding Miss Schnee out of that report. The less people that know, the better," Ozpin said. "Although I would be remiss to say I was quite surprised to find out this information. Hopefully the next chance you get, we could speak of the matter in person."

Ruby looked over to Weiss, checking to see if she was ok with that. When she saw that Weiss appeared a bit uncomfortable with that, Ruby knew she needed to speak against it. "I'm not entirely sure that is a good idea," Ruby said, catching Weiss' attention with the sudden defense. "While it may need to be spoken of, it's still a sensitive subject that Weiss might not be willing to discuss for her own sake. What is important, is that she is willing to help us with our quest, so I don't see why this matter needs to be publicized."

Ozpin took note of Ruby's objections, thinking over why she would do that for a moment before continuing. "Very well then, unless Miss Schnee feels comfortable with it, then I see no reason to speak on the matter unless it becomes important to do so." Upon hearing that, Ruby subtly breathed out a sigh of relief, while Weiss and a few of the others, were not so subtle in their efforts. "However, I do wish to discuss with you what we were able to translate of the next part in the prophecy. Are we in a location that is sustainable for private communications?"

"Yes we are sir, I can guarantee that," Neptune said, coming into the conversation. "I'm letting your people use my home as a place to rest while they are here. It's secluded enough that anyone who comes around is noticeable."

"Very well then, I appreciate you allowing us the opportunity to do so. However, for this part I would ask that you allow me to speak to the members of this part that are involved in this quest," Ozpin responded to Neptune. Taking the hint, Neptune walked out of his home and waited for the conversation to end so that he may return.

"My lord, what is it that you wish to tell us?" Ruby asked. By the look on Ozpin's face, he was a bit hesitant to say what he needed to say. He knew how hard this news would be to take, how hard it would be for Ruby to bear something that he knew would hit her close to home. Unfortunately, he had to say what it was, and whether Ruby liked it or not, that's what she had to do.

"Ruby, the next part of the prophecy has you returning to Daggerhorn," Ozpin said.

When he said that, everything seemed to stop. Weiss looked over to see Ruby's look of pure shock and despair, the sight sending shivers down her spine. Yang instantly walked over to Ruby, placing a hand on her shoulder. Ruby looked around to see how concerned everyone was, and that reassured her that everything was going to be alright.

"What do we need to do exactly?" Ruby asked, though she sounded less enthusiastic than she normally did.

"Ruby, I'm sorry that I have to do this to you, but there's nothing that could be done," Ozpin said to the huntress. "As it is, combining this with news of the dragon's return, and I'm almost certain that it has to be done by you and those who would stand by your side."

"I know," Ruby whispered.

Ozpin sighed. "Have I ever told you that your mother was once a Huntsman?" Hearing that got a sudden reaction out of Ruby, and Yang. "Before you and your sister were born, your mother, Summer Rose, was one of the best Huntsman in the history of the organization. She lead the men and women who you served with through many a tough fight, always coming out on top in the end."

"Why was I never told about this?" Ruby asked.

"Your mother requested that I not mention this to you before you reached a certain age," Ozpin responded, though he sounded as if he was guilty. "She was going to tell you about what she did for the world when you were old enough herself, but you know what happened."

The memories flashed through Ruby's head like a bad dream. Shaking her head, she snapped herself out of it and returned her attention to Ozpin. "Is that why you brought me into the Huntsman?"

"Your mother knew that once the dragon arrived, she wouldn't be returning home. So while Daggerhorn was under attack, she tried to fight off the dragon," Ozpin said. "She fought valiantly, but before she fell, she returned to your home and left something there for you to use when you were old enough. That's why you need to go to Daggerhorn, to receive the last gift from your mother."

"Understood sir," Ruby said, sounding like a broken machine more than a person at that point. Weiss wanted to wrap her up in a hug and let her cry into her shoulder while she let all of her sorrows out.

"In your old home, you'll find the last gift, as well as a message for both you and Yang," Ozpin said. "I don't want to rush you in this, but with the dragon's return, time is of the essence. You know I wouldn't ask this of you if it wasn't important, but unfortunately it is."

"I understand sir, and we'll make our way out there as soon as possible," Ruby responded.

"Head back to the train station, I'll have something there to help hasten your journey," Ozpin said. "And, once you've returned from Daggerhorn, I'll make sure you get a well deserved rest. But for now, we have our work to do, so I take my leave." Ozpin waited for Ruby to at least acknowledge his departure before he ended the call.

It was silent for the next few moments, everyone had questions to ask of Ruby, but no one wanted to actually voice them. They knew Ruby wouldn't be in the best of moods to actually answer the questions, and they would only do more harm than good. Before they knew it though, Ruby started to walk out of the house. Everyone watched as she left, and Yang was about to go chase after her. She was beaten to the punch when Weiss stood up and gave chase instead.

"Ruby wait," Weiss called out once she was outside. It somehow got Ruby to stop moving, and gave Weiss the chance to catch up to her. To Ruby's surprise, and everyone else as well, Weiss gave Ruby a hug from behind once she reached her. "Please don't go."

Tears were in Ruby's eyes, and Weiss' as well from what Ruby could tell. Weiss sounded like she was holding them back for Ruby's sake though. "Ruby, I know this may seem difficult, but you know that we're all here for you. We're not going to leave you to face this alone, not now, not ever," Weiss whispered to Ruby, tightening her grip on the hug she wrapped Ruby up in. "I-we care too much about you to let this bring you down."

Ruby turned her head back to look at Weiss. She could tell that it was really hard on Weiss seeing her like this, showing just how much the white haired girl truly cared for Ruby. "Thank you Weiss,"

"For what?"

"For showing me just how much you care," Ruby responded to Weiss' question. "I promise this won't bring me down, not while I still have you and everyone else there to pick me back up." Ruby gave Weiss a soft smile, hoping that it would alleviate some of the concerns that Weiss had.

Weiss however, just held Ruby even tighter. She hadn't admitted that she had fallen for Ruby, even just to herself. Now, she couldn't deny how she felt for the young Huntsman, how she wanted to just spend every waking moment holding onto her so she could truly feel safe from everything around her.

From back at the entrance to Neptune's home, Yang watched the entire scene unfold. She was concerned for Ruby of course, but something about what Weiss did told her that everything would be alright in the end. She felt a bit of relief when she noticed the Ruby had smiled at Weiss, realizing that something that Weiss said had helped Ruby out after all.

"She's in love with Ruby."

Yang looked over to see Blake suddenly standing next to her. "What makes you say that?"

"The way she's holding onto Ruby right now, she's afraid to let go of her," Blake responded. "Even if she doesn't realize it yet, she needs Ruby in her life. She cares for Ruby in a way that no one else could care about her, even you."

"Much like you are with me?" Yang asked.

Blake blinked, unable to think of a response right away. Eventually she gave up and just wrapped one arm around Yang, leaning into her for support. "Yeah, just like I am with you."

The two then stood in silence as they watched Weiss hold onto Ruby, Yang's heart feeling lifted knowing that her younger sister had someone to love, much like she herself had someone to love.

* * *

**AN: So, a huge part of the influence into this trilogy has been the Hobbit Movies that have recently come out. As most people know, the last of the Hobbit trilogy, the Battle of the Five Armies, came out in theaters last week, and so of course, I went to see the midnight premiere with my girlfriend. I'm really glad that I did because it inadvertently reminded me that this story is still in progress, and it gave me possible ideas for the final part of the trilogy.**

**Because of that, everyone should go see that movie because it is incredibly well written, and incredibly well produced. (As someone who studies media and wants to work in video post production, I gotta say this movie is top quality material.)**

**Anyway, one thing I need to address is a question brought up by a guest review, that being how much Dust does Weiss have to keep herself alive with. Well, she had enough to last her a long time, though even she realizes that she will run out at some point. That won't be addressed until the third part of this trilogy though so no need to worry about it right now.**

**Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this little nugget of feels.**


	14. The Journey Home

After departing from Haven, Ruby and company quickly made their way over to the train that would take them to Isen. From there, it was a somewhat short walk over to Daggerhorn, but for some it couldn't be long enough. Ruby and Yang were still fighting their own personal battles within themselves, ones that would control the emotions they felt during this part of their quest. While Yang was in tighter control of her emotions than Ruby was, she still felt like everything could come apart in an instant.

Everyone could tell that this was a delicate matter, knowing that they were going to the ruins of Ruby and Yang's home. They watched as the two girls did what they could to hold themselves together for everyone else' sake, but even they realized that it wasn't really working that well. Ruby looked extremely conflicted, she seemed like everything was crashing down around her unlike how she normally was cheerful and bubbly. She was fortunate that she had Weiss looking out for her right now, else the red haired huntress would probably have broken down many times by that point. Weiss of course was just glad that she could help heal Ruby's wounds.

Yang was fortunately faring better in keeping herself in check. She still had moments where she needed some comfort, but those were fewer than Ruby. Even so, Blake was there to step up and aid the blonde brawler whenever she needed it. Yang could see what everyone else was thinking though, she saw the looks that they gave her and Ruby. She could tell that they were worried about them, that they wondered if it was hopeless to try and help them. Yang of course, could do nothing about it, nothing was going to alleviate those concerns that they had. She just had to accept that things were going to be tense for a few days until their search was over.

As they sat aboard the train, Yang saw that Ruby was sitting with Weiss away from the rest of the group. She had to admit, if Weiss wasn't around, or if she wasn't as friendly to Ruby as she was now, she just knew that Ruby wouldn't be doing as well as she was. She knew that Ruby wasn't doing that great to begin with, but Yang knew that every little bit helped, and Weiss was definitely helping her.

Yang looked to her left to see that Blake, Jaune and Pyrrha were approaching her, looking like they wanted to talk. Ren and Nora were asleep on another part of the train, and Sun was training for some reason. Turning to face the three who approached her, Yang wondered what they wanted to talk about.

"Everything ok with Ruby?" Blake asked.

"As good as they could be, given what's going on," Yang responded. "I still can't believe that we're going back to Daggerhorn."

"You sound like you don't want to go there," Pyrrha said.

Yang sighed. "It's not that I don't want to go there, it's just that," Yang paused to come up with what she wanted to say that truly conveyed how she felt. "I'm worried that Ruby will end up getting hurt somehow while we're there. Not physically though, I know that's not going to happen, but emotionally, this is something that could hurt her."

"Yang," Blake said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I can't promise you that everything will be alright, that Ruby won't get hurt." Blake knew Yang wouldn't like to hear that, but she knew that the brawler needed to hear it instead. "But even if she does get hurt, whether physically or emotionally, you know that it won't be forever. The pain she would have would fade with time, and since we'd all be there for her, that would help her remember that despite that pain, she still has loved ones around her to give her the strength that she needs to overcome that pain."

Yang had to admit that Blake's words held true. "I know, but something tells me that I should be the one to handle this. I feel like I need to do this, more than anyone else," Yang said in response to Blake.

"We're here if you want us to help, Yang, you know that," Pyrrha said next.

"Really guys, I appreciate the love and concern, but this is something that I have to do for Ruby alone, as her sister," Yang said. "It may seem like I'm trying to push you guys away, but really, you guys just being around and reminding Ruby and myself that you're here is the best thing possible to help."

Pyrrha and Jaune looked at each other, Pyrrha nodding to Jaune silently. Jaune turned to look at Yang again and let out a long sigh. "If you say so," Jaune said as he turned to walk away with Pyrrha. "Just don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Even the strongest people need some help every now and then."

Only Blake remained behind with Yang, wrapping the girl up in her arms. "Just don't keep us out ok?" Blake asked. She looked up to see Yang nod, her gaze fixed upon Ruby and Weiss, the latter of whom wrapping the former up in a hug and stroking her hair. Yang really was glad that Weiss was around after all.

* * *

The walk from where the train dropped them off, to the ruined city of Daggerhorn was uncomfortably quiet. No one wanted to say anything to each other because of Ruby and Yang's state, and Yang could tell that they were trying to avoid upsetting them somehow. It really hurt her that she was partially responsible for the extreme silence brought onto them, but she couldn't do much about it.

After a days worth of walking, they finally reached their goal, the ruins of Daggerhorn lay before them. Yang and Ruby stood in front of everyone else, they just stared out at the ruins of what was left. The sun was coming close to setting and it gave the ruins a peaceful look to them. Moss had started to grow on the sides of buildings, cobwebs hung from porches and doorways. Daggerhorn definitely looked as if it hadn't been occupied in a very long time.

"Well Ruby, we're finally here," Yang whispered to her sister. "We're home."

Before they could walk down into the city, Weiss, Blake and Sun all heard something approaching. They turned towards where the noise came from, up into the skies where they heard the cry. "Everything alright there Blake?" Yang asked when she noticed their companions were looking upwards.

"It's probably just a stray Nevermore, but we should be careful about it," Blake responded back.

"It's much worse than that," Weiss said, grave concern in her eyes. "It's the dragon." Right as Weiss said that, the dragon flew overhead of them and towards the village. It passed over the village and landed on a mountain that the village was at the base of.

"Dammit, somehow I knew this wouldn't be easy," Ren said once the dragon had landed. Everyone turned to him so he could explain. "After Ozpin gave us our assignment, I knew that something wasn't right. That dragon shouldn't be here unless it knew about what Summer's gift was. Ruby, you may not like this, but we can't stay here for long, we have to find what we're after and get out with haste."

"God dammit, Ren, don't you realize that this is hard enough on her alre-" Yang started to say before being cut off.

"He's right." Yang looked over to see that Ruby was agreeing with him. "The dragon is too strong to take on right now, and if it knows about my mother's gift to me, then we need to find it before it does." Yang could just tell that it hurt for Ruby to say that, but it was the truth. "Still, I do wish I had more time here, maybe after this is all over I'll come back and give myself more time to spend here."

Weiss walked over and placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Well if you go then I'll be there with you," Weiss said. "For now though, we should get inside the village and find out where your mother hid the gift."

Ruby shrugged off Weiss' arm and turned to walk into the village. Everyone followed her, but they could tell it was painful for her to go through. They snuck in under the cover of the night after the sun had fully set. It was easier for some to hide than others, Blake and Ren having an easy time moving through swiftly, whereas Yang, Nora and Jaune were finding it harder and harder to get through the village unnoticed.

They wandered for what felt like a long time, following Ruby as she led them through the city towards where they were going to begin. Weiss was growing tired of this, she wanted to find this thing before they were spotted. Her body however, was definitely going to have other plans in mind. Feeling a vibration on her leg, Weiss started to go into a panic.

"No no no not now," She whispered as best she could. Still her comrades heard her cries and turned to see what was the matter.

"Weiss, what's wrong?" Blake asked.

"I need to inject the white dust into my body again," Weiss said. "We have to take a moment to do that in a safe place."

"We don't have the time to do that," Ren said. "How long could you wait before you absolutely needed it?"

"I've only ever let it go up to an hour after I felt the vibrations," Weiss said. "At that point, the pain was too much for me to handle and I had to do it."

"Then that means we have an hour to search this place," Ren said. "It may sound cold but we don't have much of a choice right now."

"And what happens when the time starts to go by and all I can do is cry out in pain while I'm writhing on the floor for the world to see and hear," Weiss said back to him.

Ren had to admit that he didn't realize how bad it could get, though he truly didn't know. "Fine, then we should find a place to do this quick," Ren said. He hated to sound like the bad guy right now, but when everything was on the line like it was, he wanted to complete their task as quick as possible. "Ruby, do you kn ow where we can go to hide for a bit while Weiss takes care of this?"

Ruby was already looking inside of a building, and gesturing for everyone to follow her inside. When Yang saw what the building was, she froze up for a second, before following Ruby inside. Everyone else soon followed and climbed on into what appeared to be an old home. Once they were inside, Weiss began her task of injecting the dust into her body.

It took a few minutes to complete in the dark, but Weiss managed to do this and inject the dust before she started to feel the pain course through her body. Once she was done, she finally got to look around at where they were. She saw an old home, partially burnt, yet mostly still intact. Paintings and portraits along the walls told of a family that used to live here, all of the pictures looking somewhat familiar. It took her a second to put two and two together, but eventually she realized what it was. Turning to look at Ruby, she saw that the girl was surprisingly calm for once.

"We made it guys, we made it home."

* * *

**AN: Not gonna lie, took a bit longer to write the second half of this chapter than I would like. I blame TBB for getting me to watch Kill la Kill, so there. Anyway, I don't have much to say, other than don't be mad at Ren for pushing everyone to moving fast. He's just trying to make sure that everyone comes out of there alive is all.**

**Anyway, love you guys, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for reading.**


	15. Summer's Last Gift

As she heard where Ruby had said they were at, Weiss felt a storm of emotions pop into her head. She didn't know how Ruby would take being home, but something told her that Ruby's mind was going through all kinds of hell at that moment. Weiss could see the turmoil in Ruby's eyes, the tension that stiffened Ruby to the point where Weiss was worried that her love was nothing more than a conflicted statue stuck in a place that only brought more pain with each passing second.

Weiss wasn't the only one who noticed the way Ruby looked, everyone that was traveling with them knew how bad things seemed for Ruby. What was worse, Yang appeared to be going through similar distress, though clearly not to the level that Ruby was experiencing. Yang was breathing heavily, her body shaking at the sight of her old home. While Yang was working to get a grip on her emotions and her thoughts, Ruby was struggling to think straight, the sight of her old home jarring loose memories that she tried to bury for years.

In a split decision moment, Weiss took a step forward and wrapped her arms around Ruby, holding the distressed woman from behind in a desperate attempt to help comfort her. Weiss' actions went noticed as Ruby jumped when the arms wrapped around her. Ruby let her head drop and tears start to roll down her eyes as she found that the emotional storm residing in her was too strong for her to overcome alone.

Seeing her sister like that sent a pang of hurt through Yang's heart. She had spent to much time away from her sister, all the times that Ruby needed a sister that wasn't around. Yang knew she needed to be there for her sister, now more than ever. It was with a heavy heart that she chose to finally speak up and address the rest of her companions who were just standing there, watching the two sisters go through the mental and emotional anguish that coming to their burned out home brought on them.

"You guys search the house for anything that might be what we're looking for," Yang muttered, her voice full of sorrow. "Just please give us a few moments alone, ok?"

As she looked at each one, waiting for questions about how they were feeling, or if there was anything that the two of them could do to help, it came as a shock to Yang when she got nods and understanding looks instead of confused questions. Yang was ready to burst into tears over the compassion and understanding that her companions, her friends, had shown when they simply did as she had asked without question, knowing fully well just how much the sisters needed a moment together.

The only one's who didn't go off right away, were Blake and Weiss. Weiss still had her arms wrapped around Ruby, though the red haired girl was now turned so that she could cry into Weiss' shoulder. Blake stood next to Yang, ready to give the blonde any support she needed at the moment. As thoughtful as Yang knew Blake was being, it wasn't necessary, Yang knew exactly what she needed to do, and in doing so, she would help feel better herself.

"Blake, can you give us some privacy as well?" Yang asked softly.

Knowing that Yang was dealing with her own problems, Blake wasn't so sure about leaving her be, not without some form of reassurance. "You going to be ok?"

"Yeah," Yang replied. "I just need to do something that I wish I could've done for so long now."

Without being told what it was that Yang was referring to, Blake knew instantly what it was that Yang meant. She looked over at Ruby and Weiss, seeing the pained look in Ruby's eyes, knowing that Yang wanted to be there for her sister when she needed it.

"I'll let you know if we find anything, ok?" Blake said before leaning in to kiss Yang on the cheek.

The gesture caused Yang to smile and give Blake a quick hug before the black haired girl took off to join the rest of their friends in the search. Yang then turned towards Ruby and Weiss, and walked up to them, wrapping her arms around the two of them as she reached them. Weiss looked over at Yang, seeing that she wanted nothing more than to simply hug her little sister who was crying, and so Weiss loosened her own grip so that Yang could have Ruby all to herself for a few brief moments.

Watching Ruby transfer from Weiss to Yang had reminded Weiss that she wasn't the only one who Ruby had in her life. What would normally have caused her to become disheartened, instead filled her with joy, knowing that the girl was loved and cared for by many. Weiss felt that she was intruding on the moment between the two sisters, and decided that it would be best for her if she searched with everyone else.

With the two sisters alone in the small living room of their old home, they mourned the loss that they went through, but this time it was together, instead of on their own. Time may have kept them apart from each other for a long time, but it has a way of making things right as well. Despite not being able to share a moment with each other in a long time, Yang and Ruby were able to have this moment together, where they could continue on with where they left off as a family.

"I'm so sorry, Ruby," Yang said.

Ruby looked up, her eyes red with tears, to see her sister's eyes crying as much as her own were. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to find you again until recently. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of this by yourself."

Before Yang could go any further, Ruby had pulled her sister into an even tighter hug, silently signalling that everything was alright. "Yang, I don't want you to blame yourself for not being able to help, and I forgive you for everything you feel sorry for. Just promise me that we'll stick together through all of this."

"I promise," Yang whimpered.

With the two sisters reconnecting, promising each other that they would never part, they believed that the world would be forever whole again. They believed that all of the troubles that were going on would pass and that their lives would return to normal, free of all that plagued their world in darkness.

But even they had to return to the task at hand, and their moment together couldn't last forever.

Blake approached the two of them, cautiously and hoping that she didn't disturb their moment. She had news to tell them about, and it needed to be said, but even she realized that some things could wait for a minute or two.

"We might have found something," She said once the two of them had noticed that she was standing there. Leading the pair, who had let their embrace come to an end, she brought them to a room near the back of the house. When they arrived in the room, Yang noticed that everyone was standing around one particular spot.

The spot happened to be a hole in the ground that had obviously been there for a long time, covered up by a secret trap door in the floor. What had confused Yang and Ruby was the fact that Jaune was partially in the hole, his arms hanging onto the edge of the hole.

"I'm glad that we found this and all, but don't you think it would be a great idea if we, oh I don't know, helped get me out of here? I can't hold on like this forever you know," Jaune said from his awkward positioning in the hole.

Sun and Ren had already reached out to grab Jaune's arms and the two of them pulled him out of the hole. "Yeesh, I was really Yangin' in there for a moment or two, huh," Jaune said once he stood up, though even he realized that his attempt at brightening the mood would probably explode in his face.

Though it didn't rid the room of the awkward tension that hung in the air, it got a much needed chuckle out of Yang. "Is that really how I sound when I say things like that?" She asked, getting some hesitant nods from all of her friends. "Ah well, I try. And Jaune, thanks, for doing what you could to brighten things up."

"We're friends after all, so why wouldn't I?" Jaune replied.

"So, are we going down to see what this is or not?" Yang asked.

"Actually," Ren spoke up. "We all decided that it isn't our place to go down there with you and Ruby. This is your home, so we feel that, out of respect for what you guys have gone through, only the two of you have the right to go down there. We'll stay up here and make sure that nothing disturbs you while you're down there."

Yang felt her heart fluster at the kindness of Ren, and when she saw everyone else and the compassionate looks they gave her and Ruby, she knew that these people were the best friends she could ever ask for. "Thank you guys, so much," She finally said after suppressing a few more tears that tried to reach the surface. Ruby started to make her way towards the entrance to the hole, Yang's hand firmly in hers. Once she reached it, Ruby took a look at Yang and gave her a smile, before jumping down into the hole.

It wasn't deep, Ruby was still able to see her friends expressions clearly from where she was, and she could grasp their hands if they needed to help her out of the hole. What she saw when she was in there was surprising to her though, all kinds of tech, memorabilia and gadgets that clearly showed just what her mother did for a living. Ruby approached a terminal as Yang dropped down into the hole behind her. Flipping a switch, she noticed that the room still had some power, and the room lit up, removing all traces of darkness that dwelled in the room.

Yang walked up to Ruby and grasped her hand once more. On the terminal in front of them, they saw that there was only one object of importance that was there. Activating it, the sisters watched as a video popped up on the screen in front of them, the image of their mother coming up clear as day. Ruby and Yang didn't know what to think, but in their immediate shock, they didn't notice that the video had already started.

"_My name, is Summer Rose, Huntress of Remnant, leaving a message behind for those who find this place. I was tasked with searching for a way to defeat the Black dragon, and I wanted to leave behind one last message, to those who matter the most. This is to be my final video, the last time that anyone will ever see me._"

Ruby wasn't sure if she was going to cry or not, but when she felt Yang hold her tightly, she pushed her feelings down and continued on.

"_I've compiled all of my research and information that I have gathered on the Black Dragon, and left it in a chest on the other side of the room. Everything that is in there will help those who come after me to defeat that monster. My only hope is that everything that I have gathered will be enough. Once more, I believe that I may have found the way to defeat the dragon. In the chest with the information is a special arrow made of the strongest steel, and coated in only the purest of White Dust there is. That may be the only key we have left to stop the dragon, before all of Remnant burns._

_Before I go, I have a few things I wish to say to those that I loved and cherished. To Lord Ozpin, I wish to thank you, one last time, for giving my life purpose and for guiding me when times were at their worst. Taiyang, I do not know if you will make it through and see this, but if you should, then I wanted to tell you that I love you, now and forever. Yang, my beautiful daughter, you have always been the sunshine in my life, and I know that wherever you go, I'm proud of you for doing what you want to do with your life._

_And last, but not least, to my darling Ruby, my little rosebud, I love you, you and your sister both. Do not forget that there are always good people in this world, and though we won't see each other again, just remember that I'm always watching over you, and I'll always be proud of you. Goodbye._"

As quickly as the video started, it then ended with the screen turning black and returning to what it was before the video began. Ruby was in tears, and Yang was as well, both of them knowing that what they saw, was the last time they would ever see their mother again. Acting on impulse, Ruby pulled out her scroll and connected it to the terminal, transferring the video from the console into a private file on her scroll.

Ruby then turned and ran towards the chest that her mother had mentioned, finding the information that they sought out, but also the arrow that was needed to kill the dragon. But what Ruby found in there beside all that, had left her on the verge of a complete breakdown.

Beside the information, and the arrow, sat a brown teddy bear, covered in a small layer of dust, but otherwise relatively undamaged. Ruby reached in and pulled out the bear, remembering instantly when she got it. Her mother had given it to her as a gift after along journey that took her away from home. Ruby wouldn't let go of it for weeks aside from when she showered or ate. Ruby pulled the teddy bear close to her, holding it tightly against her chest as her sobs grew louder.

Yang knelt down beside her sister and held Ruby as tightly as she could, reassuring the girl that her sister was still there with her. "I miss her so much, Yang," Ruby said between sobs.

"I know, Ruby," Yang muttered, barely keeping herself together. "I am as well."

The two knelt like that for a long time, neither of them feeling the energy to move. But after some time had passed, Ruby placed the teddy bear into her bag, and then grabbed the arrow, attaching it to the side of her bag as well. The information that their mother had accumulated was passed up to Jaune and the others. With everything they needed taken care of, Yang returned to the entrance and waited for Ruby to rejoin them.

Ruby however, walked over to the console one last time, rubbing her hands along the interface and staring at it, wondering just what her mother did while she was down here. Oh how Ruby wished that she could stay down in that hole, spending the rest of her life around everything that reminded her of the mother she lost, but even Ruby knew that she had to press on, lest her mother's death be in vain.

"Reaching towards the switch that would shut down the console, Ruby knew that she needed to let go. "Goodbye, Mom," Ruby said as she flipped the switch and shut down the power in her mother's work room, one last time.

* * *

**AN: *Checks time gap in between last chapter and this one* Ok, so I don't really know how I managed to make nearly 6 months go by without an update for this. I guess all I can say is sorry for making all of you guys wait for this. I hope that this update makes up for not updating this in so long.**

**That being said, hopefully this update was feelsy enough for you guys, because with this arc of the trilogy wrapping up soon, it's going to be tense for the rest of the ride.**

**I guess the reason this took so long to update was because I completely changed what happened in this chapter and the chapters that end this arc. I originally had one idea, but then I decided that it wasn't that good, and I had to go back and figure out what needed to be fixed with it so that I gave you the most tense ending yet. What I have planned for the ending though, I don't think anyone is going to see it coming.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed seeing this story updated, and I do plan on finishing this out, hopefully (though I don't make any promises on this part) within the next week or two. Thanks for reading!**


	16. The Wolves Around Us

Ruby and Yang climbed back out of the trap door that led to their mother's place of work. It was a surreal feeling, having visited the old site where their mother spent much of her time. Being home in general was a pretty surreal feeling, one that I doubt they would forget for a long time.

As the two of them popped out of the hole, everyone was standing around them, unsure of what they could say to cheer them up. None of them knew what it was that they were going through, so they didn't know how to help them. Ruby, in turn, walked over to Weiss and wrapped her arms around the white haired woman.

"Thank you," Ruby said as she held onto Weiss. "Thank you to everyone for being here for me and Yang." Ruby let go of Weiss in order to address everyone in the room. "I know it must be hard, not knowing what you could do to help, but just being here is enough, at least for me."

"Well then, I'm glad that we were able to help you," Ren said. "In some way, of course."

"I hate to be the bringer of bad news," Pyrrha said. "But we really should be considering leaving soon. That dragon is still around, and last I checked, it was circling the city." As if on cue, the dragon let loose a thunderous roar. It was close to them, and more likely than not, tracking them.

"We need to leave, now!" Ruby cried out. Yang led everyone out of the house, while Ruby took one last look through her home before giving chase after them.

Once they were outside, Ruby saw that the dragon was heading straight for them. "Move!" She shouted, leading everyone towards the edge of the city.

"How do we get out of here?!" Blake asked.

"Closest exit is across the river, but we'll have to cross an old bridge to get to it!" Yang shouted back. "Follow me, I'll lead us there!"

"Nora, give it a reason to stay back!" Ren called out to Nora, who in turn pulled out her weapon.

"Eat this!" Nora yelled out as she fired a couple of grenades towards the dragon. Despite not doing much to the creature itself, she did manage to force the creature into pulling back a bit, giving herself and her friends some room to escape.

As they passed through the city, Ruby led them through narrow alleyways in the hope that the dragon would pass overhead of them and would lose track of their location. Given that she knew that city well, despite being away for 10 years, she felt confident that she could out maneuver the dragon in their escape.

Unfortunately, it did nothing to deter the beast from its hunt. All that it did was delay them from reaching the edge of the city, and allow the dragon to reach close to them. Blowing fire down towards them from one end of the alley, the dragon attempted to cook them with the powerful flames it produced.

Pyrrha managed to raise a defense for the group before the fire could reach them, grabbing part of a broken metal home and dragging it in front of them to serve as a shield. With a wall standing between them for the moment, the group continued on their intended path.

It wasn't much longer before they reached the bridge, much of it destroyed save for a few boards that appeared to be on the edge of collapse. The river underneath was running swiftly, and small rapids were forming underneath them. Travelling across the river itself wouldn't be a smart decision.

"What do we do?" Jaune asked.

"Move across one at a time if possible," Ren suggested. "Barring that, find ways for us to reach the other side without having to actually touch the bridge itself."

Blake was the first to make a move across the bridge, electing to jump off the very ledge and dashing forth towards the middle of the bridge, leaving behind a shadow clone for momentum.

She unfortunately landed in the middle of the bridge and nearly fell over when it started to creak underneath her. Leaving behind another shadow clone, Blake moved towards the other end of the bridge and made it across safely.

"Be careful, guys," Blake called back to them. "It's probably going to collapse on you guys if you put too much pressure on it."

"Heads up!" Nora called out, back a ways from the group as if she was preparing for something.

Pyrrha had some idea of what she was thinking, and prepared herself. Her back was to the bridge, her shield being braced with both of her hands. With Nora running towards her, Manghild set up in its hammer form, Pyrrha bracing herself as Nora leapt towards her.

Nora landed on Pyrrha's shield, the head of the hammer pointed down towards the shield and Nora seated atop of it. With a press of the trigger, as well as a boost from Pyrrha, Nora was launched across the river with sheer velocity.

No sooner had Nora landed across the river, did Jaune feel his body lift up and float across the gap. He looked down to see Ren deftly leaping from board to board underneath him, and soon, the two of them were across.

As they reached the other side, the dragon started to barrel towards them. "Ruby, we need to get across there now!" Yang cried out to her sister once she noticed the dragon on the other side."

Nodding in agreement, Ruby ran across with such great speeds that she barely touched the ground at all. Turning back to see who was left, Ruby saw Pyrrha leading the others across the river. Unfortunately, she also turned back just in time to see the bridge collapse underneath Yang, Weiss, and Sun.

Pyrrha turned back once she heard the screams, and in doing so, fell as the boards underneath her collapsed as well. The water engulfed her and the others, and soon they were being carried down the river.

"No!" Ruby shouted as she tried to run back to the river, only to be stopped by Blake and Nora. "Let go of me! We can't leave them!"

"Ruby, that dragon is still focused on us," Blake said. "Going after them is only going to get ourselves, or even worse, those that fell into the river, killed. I hate having to leave too, but unfortunately, we don't have a choice in the matter!"

Ruby hated to admit it, but Blake was right. Going after them would only result in more deaths than she could imagine. Not only that, but their quest would effectively be over because of it. Ruby had to bring this arrow, the last gift of Summer Rose, the key to destroying the dragon, back to Vale so that Ozpin may find out how it is going to kill the dragon in the end.

But it hurt to see her friends float away like that, to see Weiss fighting the current as she was being carried down the river.

"I can try to follow them down the river," Blake pleaded. "I'm the best at staying out of sight, so don't worry, I'll keep them safe, I promise."

Hearing Blake's idea, Ruby agreed to it, and sent Blake off towards the others along the riverbank. She then led Jaune, Nora and Ren away from the city, into the forest to hopefully find some cover to escape the dragon. Her only hope was that the dragon would continue to follow them for a time, before getting lost and giving up on the chase.

* * *

Yang was certainly out of her element. Normally she was a girl with a fiery passion and a will that couldn't be conquered. Tumbling through a raging river was not something she was fond of. In fact, it was probably one of the worst things she could have ever gone through.

It didn't help that she was struggling to keep herself from crashing into the rocks that were littered all throughout the river, blocking her path. Yang had to figure that the others weren't having much luck either, especially Weiss.

She managed to figure out who it was that was in the river with her, having found an opportunity to take a look back and count heads. Sun and Weiss fell in with her almost immediately, and were pretty close to her. Pyrrha must have fallen in sometime after she did, at least that's what she thought, for she was a little further back up the river.

Yang's first goal was to reach Weiss and make sure that she was doing alright, she seemed to be struggling the most out of all four of them. Pyrrha was actually trying to catch up to the rest, while Sun was being aided in his struggle by his own tail. As Yang waded her way towards Weiss, she was certainly glad that she chose to follow her white haired friend. Weiss was struggling to keep up with the current, and she could see her dip under a couple of times.

"I got you, Weiss," Yang called out once she reached the other girl, putting her back down towards the direction they were going, and grabbing a hold of Weiss from behind. "Just take it easy, you're going to be ok, I'm right here." Yang continued to ease the girl who was struggling in her grip, hoping to make it easier on them to reach the shore.

Unfortunately, Yang didn't notice a rock that was partially sticking out of the river, and she collided with it. The pain of her impact soared through her body, however, she felt herself slow down, almost as if she was being pulled towards something.

After she finally opened up her eyes, Yang noticed that Pyrrha and Sun had reached a bank in the river, and were safe on the shore. That was when Yang noticed that she and Weiss were there as well.

Falling onto her back, Yang took a couple of deep breaths in order to slow down her heightened heart rate. "Oh my god, that was ridiculous," She said, only to receive a weak slap on her stomach from Weiss, who lay next to her.

"Ridiculous doesn't even begin to describe it, you brute," Weiss proclaimed. "But thank you, for saving my life."

"Eh, Ruby would probably kill me if I didn't," Yang mentioned. "In all seriousness though, I'm glad that I got to you when I did. I'd hate to see what would've happened if I didn't."

By that point, Pyrrha and Sun had approached them and were helping the pair to their feet. "You alright, Yang?" Pyrrha asked. "I saw you impact that rock, that must've hurt pretty badly."

"Eh, I'll live," Yang mentioned, before she saw some rustling in the treeline surrounding them. "Who's out there?" She called, hoping to get a response from someone who was willing to help.

Instead, she was met with a large group of men, all wielding swords, pointed directly at them. It was a surprise to them all, but they had drawn their weapons already. Should things take a turn for the worst, they were prepared to defend themselves.

"Well well," One of them called out, their leader. "Look at what we managed to catch ourselves."

Yang instantly knew the voice of the man who spoke. It was a voice that had haunted her for many nights, plaguing her dreams as she had to watch her mentor die over and over again to his blade. He was a man that she had been hunting down for years, just waiting for the chance to bring him to his death.

"It would seem that the apprentice is finally coming to reunite with their pathetic old mentor once again," He continued on.

Yang's eyes turned bloody red, her ultimate quarry finally within her sights.

'_You are a dead man, Adam Taurus!_'

* * *

**AN: OOOOOOH DRAMA! And HOLY CRAP it's been a while since this got updated! I know I said last chapter that I would update this sooner, however life happened and obviously that didn't actually take place. HOWEVER I already have the next chapter in progress (and it's actually the final chapter for this part of the story), so enjoy the fact that this is getting completed soon.**

**Also, check out all of the stuff that I plan on updating for the next 3 weeks. Every single day there is going to be an update coming out at the same time each day for whatever story takes place. You guys are awesome for sticking with me, and I've had such a huge drive to write stuff recently, so I'm running with it and challenging myself to create new content for you guys!**

**See you guys in the next update!**


	17. Desolation

"My Lord," The young aide called to the ruler of Vale. "Queen Glynda and King Port wish to speak with you."

Lord Ozpin turned away from the window he was staring out of and towards the man who called to him. "Very well, is this in person, or by other methods?"

"They await for you to join them within the circle," The aide replied before bowing to the man and exiting the hall.

Ozpin took a deep breath and walked towards the back wall of the throne room. Off to the side of the throne, Ozpin pressed one of the bricks that lined the walls, pushing it in and activating the mechanisms contained within. He only had to wait for a few moments before a door opened up to him and allowed him to travel into the inner confines of the castle. There were many secrets that were kept within this vault hidden under the keep, all of them worth so much.

Very few people even knew of the vault itself, only the ruling family, a very select few servants, and some of the veteran members of the Huntsman. The aide that had called to him was one of the few who knew, and it was his job to ensure that Ozpin was made aware of this development. The circle was one of the more intricate devices within the vault.

It was a device that allowed the user to speak with others that had a device similar to their own. Very few were made, for they were operated with the use of magic. Only the rulers of the Kingdoms of Vale, Atlas, and Sanctum had the few remaining circles, for the devices within Isen and Menagerie were destroyed, either by the dragon, or by the corrupt rulership. If there were other devices out there, then none of the rulers knew about it.

Once Ozpin reached the circle, he grabbed a bag of powder from the table nearby and held it out in his hands before the circle. As he stepped up to his place, he threw the powder down into the middle, activating the device and releasing a cloud of smoke. Soon afterwards, the smoke disappeared and was replaced with the images of Queen Glynda and King Port.

"Lord Ozpin," Queen Glynda said.

"Glynda, there is no need for such formalities right now," Ozpin stated. "Not while the three of us are here."

"Regardless, we have much to discuss," Port interjected. "As I'm sure you're well aware, the White Fang has become increasingly hostile. They continue to press against Atlas' border, and Menagerie is bearing the worst of the hostilities. They are all but on the brink of civil war right now, and if conflict happens, then I fear it might spread."

"Or it could attract the Grimm to Menagerie and the entire kingdom would become a bloodbath," Glynda pointed out. "In either case, things aren't looking good for the world, and unfortunately for my people, Sanctum is having a hard enough time defending itself from the Grimm attacks that have started to plague our lands."

Ozpin knew exactly what that meant. In either scenario, there would be tens of thousands of lives lost if either were to take place. Unfortunately, neither situation was completely avoidable. The world would always have the Grimm, and Menagerie really was becoming destabilized from within. The White Fang fighting against the oppression they faced, and the guards who retaliated on the orders of a Mad King. Both sides were at fault, and the other kingdoms did whatever they could to keep the fragile peace alive. Time was running out for them, and they needed to act fast.

"It would appear as though we are at a crossroads, then," Ozpin said. "Do we take action and try to bring order to Menagerie, putting our own borders at risk as a result? Or do we leave the kingdom to its own machinations and wait to see which of the two scenarios we just stated takes place?"

"There is also this business with the dragon," Port reminded the others. "Should those stated in the prophecy fail, our actions in the end won't matter at all."

"I have faith that they will succeed," Ozpin stated. "As of this moment, they are on their way to the former city of Daggerhorn to locate an item which is believed to be the key to defeating the dragon once and for all."

"Daggerhorn?" Glynda questioned. "Are you sure it's a wise thing to be sending them there? The likelihood that they encounter the dragon is very high. If they aren't prepared for it-"

"They had encountered the dragon once already, as you were told," Ozpin mentioned. "I am not worried about whether they will be prepared for the fight or not. In all honesty, I believe they are guaranteed to encounter the dragon, and come out the other side relatively unharmed."

"That still isn't enough, though," Glynda countered. "You and I have both read this prophecy with as much scrutiny as possible. The arrow alone isn't enough to kill the dragon, it needs more, and the prophecy says that the nine have to bring the arrow to someone known as 'The Alchemist' in order to give the arrow the strength it needs and heal the pains they have faced along the way. We don't even know who this person is."

"That would be me."

The sound of another person within the circle was enough to surprise everyone, and soon, a fourth figure was amongst them. He was clad in a white coat and pants, a white glove covering his right hand only. His black hair was starting to gray along the sides, and he had plates of metal coming to rest on the right side of his face.

Ozpin could only stare at this newcomer, wondering just how he had managed to insert himself into the conversation. "And who exactly are you?" King Port had asked, breaking the silence.

The man shut his eyes and sighed. "I am the Alchemist that your prophecy speaks of."

* * *

Yang's eyes had turned blood red by this point, the man who had killed her mentor was standing right in front of her, taunting her. She looked all around and saw numerous members of the White Fang standing behind him, ready to gun the four of them down without hesitation. The odds were greatly stacked against them, but Yang wasn't about to back down so long as she still drew breath.

She heard the sound of her companions drawing their weapons, giving her confidence that the fight wouldn't end the way that everyone else believed it would. She activated her gauntlets and gave Adam a smirk, ready to do what she had to in order to bring him down.

She leapt forward, stopping inches before him and swung at him, only to have her fist connect with the side of his blade. He countered by kicking her backwards, but that only served to give her an opportunity to fire a missile at him instead.

Adam swiftly dodged the missile and let it impact the soldiers behind him, sending a few of them flying into the air in defeat. Soon afterwards, the remaining White Fang started to open fire, only for their bullets to stop in mid-air while Pyrrha held her hands out. She let the bullets drop to the ground and the White Fang realized that ranged weapons weren't going to cut it, they had to get up close. So with a charge, they drew varying swords and ran towards the four who stood in their way.

Weiss used her swiftness to make precision strikes against the White Fang, dodging their blades as they came swinging towards her. Knocking them back with a glyph, she decided that was a good time to give herself a little boost, activating a glyph underneath her that allowed her to speed herself up. Soon afterwards, she leapt forward and struck one of the White Fang thugs, only to leap to the next and repeat the process over and over again until they were down on the ground in the blink of an eye.

Sun was having a relatively easy time dealing with the White Fang, Ryu Bang and Jingu Bang blocking any swings that came his way and sending the White Fang thugs backwards. As they started to circle around him, he clasped his hands together and created to clones of himself that ran out and burst in front of the White Fang, sending them careening backwards. Once he finished, he switched his staff into the dual nunchaku that he possessed and started to fire upon the crowd that surrounded him with the shotguns that were attached.

Pyrrha was fighting like she normally would in this situation, dodge as much as she could and counter the enemies that tried to strike at her. Occasionally, she would use her semblance to aid in the endeavor, but for the most part, her natural skills carried her throughout the fight. As her opponents kept coming at her, she continued to prove why she was made a Captain of the Royal Guard of Sanctum. She barely had a scratch on her by the time she had felled her opponents.

Yang, of course, was struggling to keep up with Adam. He was too fast for her to handle alone, and everyone else was too busy contending with the remaining White Fang to help her. All that she could do was dodge what she could, and bear with the strikes that she couldn't. In the end, all it was doing was helping to strengthen her. Once she was ready, she would unleash all the power she had built up into a flurry of attacks that would hopefully take the man down.

"Adam!"

Both Yang and Adam turned just in time to see Blake leap towards them and swipe at the man with Gambol Shroud, forcing the man to raise his sword up in defense and give Yang an opportunity to strike out with Ember Celica.

Grunting in pain, Adam glared at Blake and Yang who stood defiantly against him. "Why, Blake?" Adam questioned. "Why did you betray us for them? We could be ruling over them all right now!"

"You talk about it like what you're doing is just, but it isn't!" Blake cried as she launched herself forward for another attack. "This isn't justice, it's terrorism! You've sunken to new lows, and now I don't even know who you are anymore!"

Blake was forced back, just as Yang came in for another attack. Adam had enough time to block Yang's strike and force her back as well. "If you're not with us, then you're my enemy," Adam said. "And I will make it my mission to destroy everything that you hold dear!" At that, Adam took a defiant stance, glaring right at Yang. "Starting with you."

It was enough to provoke Yang into making a mistake. With blood red eyes brighter than ever before, she cried out and leapt towards Adam, bringing her right arm back and readying her strongest punch possible.

"Yang no!" Blake cried once she saw Yang leap forth, unable to stop the blonde from making her move.

Once Yang reached Adam, he made his move, swinging his sword at just the right angle, causing Yang's arm to be cut off above the elbow. The swing sent Yang soaring past Adam and into the ground, her body impacting a rock and nearly knocking her unconscious. Blake ran past Adam and knelt in front of Yang, trying to protect her and willing to die for her.

Yang looked up at Blake, at Adam, her eyes starting to fade into black. The last thing she could remember was a blinding light stepping in front of her and Blake, a shrill scream that she had only heard once before, and a voice that she recognized that had combined itself with something that would make most people look upon her with awe.

"You will not lay another hand on her, so long as I draw breath," Weiss said. Runes ran across her body and her eyes pure white, yet still human. She was in full control this time, and nothing was going to stand in her way.

* * *

**AN: And that's how this part of the story ends. BRING ON THE RAGE AT THE MAJOR CLIFFHANGER! Seriously, I've been planning this ending for the longest time, since before the story started. I wanted to have this ending because of how much of an impact it would be. There were some additions that I made last minute (the alchemist), and decisions that came more recently, but this has just been so fun.**

**I don't know when the third part will be out, but I can tell you, it's going to be good. There is still plenty to go with this story, so I hope you guys get to enjoy this madhouse I've created.**

**Thanks for being a part of this, and I hope to see you again when I begin the final act.**


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